


Yes, Like Groundhog Day

by musicforlife101



Series: Captain Canary Hiatus Fics [10]
Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon-Typical Violence, Captain Canary, Developing Relationship, F/M, Gen, Language, Len doesn't like his team dying, Len is so tired of everyone dying, Protective Leonard Snart, Space Pirates, Temporary Character Death, Time Loop, but especially Sara, kind of a work in progress, lots of references, pre 1x10, though it could possibly be read as after
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-12
Updated: 2016-07-04
Packaged: 2018-06-01 18:25:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 22,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6531100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/musicforlife101/pseuds/musicforlife101
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Time seems to be looping back on itself, except Leonard Snart is the only one who can remember that these pirates have attacked them before.</p>
<p>In which Leonard, with the eventual help of other Legends, keeps looping until he can beat the pirates and save his friends. Not that he needs friends, or even really likes them. And it's getting really annoying, explaining it to them every time.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I started writing this for Captain Canary Hiatus Fest (Artist's Choice), but it ran away with me, so it's super duper late. Also, the whole time loop part is finished, but the relationship plot kept running, so I'm going where it tells me now. This is still in progress, but slowly.</p>
<p>Nominated for a Captain Canary Fanfiction and Visual Arts Award 2016 - category: Best Canon-Divergent Fiction<br/>(thanks all, I'm really honored!)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Tuesday #1

**Author's Note:**

> I love time loop stories, Groundhog Day, Monday, Mystery Spot, even a great Doctor Who fic called Loop (which is awesome and you should read that series by SanguineInk if you're a Whovian). So I thought it would be a good idea to write one for LOT. I was both right and wrong. This is so fun, and I love the time loop story, but it completely ran away with me and I'm not even finished.
> 
> Sara and Leonard's story isn't done, even though the loop's resolution has been written. So now I'm writing their continuing relationship adventures, which will be added to the end of this story as they are written.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own LOT, or any of the bajillion time loop related things I reference here.
> 
> I really hope you enjoy!

Rip closed his eyes, cringing at the sound of Stein’s screams. He’d lied, slightly, insisting what they were asking was impossible. Which it wasn’t, so long as you didn’t mind not having a universe to return to. They’d tortured him first and when he didn’t break, they’d brought in the girls, with predictable results. He tried not to look at their blood, thick on the floor behind Martin.

The professor’s would join theirs soon, he knew, and they’d work their way through the others until he did as they asked. And when he didn’t, he’d join Sara and Kendra on the floor. There was a sick squelching sound and Martin cried out, scream fading to a gurgle. He didn’t have any options here. One way or another, whether they were dead or alive, these guys would find someone they could force to give them what they wanted. And that wasn’t a risk he could take. But he was past the point of no return. He just hoped someone was far enough away.

The moment he heard Martin’s body hit the floor he opened his eyes. He looked at his friends for a moment, willing the bile not to rise in his throat, and then looked up at the monsters on his ship.

“You shouldn’t have done that. You really don’t know who you’ve crossed. _I_ protected the Ruins of Arcadia.”

 

* * *

 

Leonard and Sara sat in the training room, comfortably away from the rest of the team. Their last mission had been tense, with the crook and the assassin on their own. The others hadn’t been as comfortable with the lines they were willing to cross for the good of the team and the mission, even though Rip had recruited them for that exact purpose. It bothered Sara more than Leonard, though it bothered him more than he let on. So they’d come back to their little sanctuary. She sat at one end of the bench sharpening her knives, with her sock clad feet tucked under his thigh. He was taking apart and cleaning his cold gun. It wasn’t necessary as often as with a traditional gun, but it calmed his mind and kept his weapon in peak condition.

Something loud banged into the side of the ship, knocking them both from their seats. Leonard caught himself with the rubber tread of his boots, coming up into a wide, low stance. Sara hit the floor and rolled, landing in a crouch. She grabbed her boots and jammed her feet into them. She _could_ run around the ship and fight off attackers in just her socks, but it would be murder on her feet with all the metal grating. She tied them messily and too low, but at least they were on. Something felt off, so she grabbed a couple of knives that were within reach while Leonard reassembled the housing on his gun. He could have put any professional marksman to shame with his speed. Leonard looked at her, she nodded, and they crept toward the door.

In the corridor, they could hear voices and they made their way silently toward them. Then they heard Ray.

“Hey! Who are you? What are you –?” There was a sort of thwack followed by a thunk, which sounded a lot like Ray getting cold cocked and landing face first on the floor. Sara slunk into the shadows around a corner and Leonard followed, cold gun up. They waited for the voices to move on before following. 

Ray lay in the middle of the corridor, half blocking it with his legs, facedown and unconscious with a small pool of blood under his head. Sara crouched and pulled his head back by his hair. His face was swollen and blood continued to flow onto the floor beneath him.

“Just a broken nose, but he’s out,” she said, keeping her voice low. “We should keep moving.” Leonard nodded and they moved on, steps making almost no sound on the metal floors. They followed the voices toward the bridge, sharing a look before they entered. Leonard held his cold gun ready and Sara pulled a knife from her belt. They entered the bridge, where a handful of men with blasters had rounded up their teammates.

Their leader turned to them as soon as they entered. “Put down your weapons and join your friends,” he said with the easy authority of someone who was used to being listened to. It was really too bad Leonard and Sara didn’t listen to authority very well.

“Not likely,” Leonard said, aiming his gun at the leader. “Now let them go.” The man lifted his own blaster, pressing the muzzle to Jax’s temple. It was a good guess. Neither of them wanted their friends killed, but Jax was just a kid. They couldn’t risk it. After a shared glance, they both dropped their arms, pointing their weapons to the floor.

“Good, now give your weapons to Axl.” He gestured to a man standing near them who looked more like a maintenance mechanic than a space pirate. He held Rip’s blaster and watched them expectantly. After a very long moment, Leonard handed him the gun, the cold look in his eye making it very clear that there would be a reckoning if he so much as scuffed it. Sara set three knives on top of the pile. Then after a tense minute, she pulled a knife out of her right boot and added that to the pile. Axl left with the weapons, being extra careful.

The leader waved Sara and Leonard into line with the others. “For those of you late to class, thank you for joining us. My name is Captain Hansen. Now, which one of you is the Time Master?” No one answered. “Could it be the man in the brown coat?” Hansen stepped back and looked at Rip for a moment. “Well damn, could you be _the_ Rip Hunter? Infamous renegade Time Master?” Rip didn’t answer, but he didn’t have to. “Take the others to the brig. Captain Hunter and I are going to have a little chat.”

The other men led the team toward the holding cell. One of them shoved Sara roughly with the muzzle of his weapon when she didn’t follow quickly enough. She stumbled, using Leonard’s back for balance. He growled at the man and she pushed him gently in the direction they were walking. There was nothing to be gained by fighting them here where they were severely outgunned, and the field was littered with some of their less hand-to-hand capable teammates.

It was a short walk to the cell, as they were clearly going to be held in the bridge level brig, not Mick’s cell. Leonard frowned. Even though Mick was still a very much at odds with the team he could be helpful in escaping. Though, that would make him uncontainable later. But better than dead or stranded or whatever these pirates wanted.

The men locked them in and left, never speaking to them. Leonard glared out the forcefield at their retreating forms. Then he turned to the rest of the team. Stein and Kendra had both taken seats, Jax sat on the floor, one leg out in front of him, and Sara stood off to one side, shifting her weight from one foot to the other.

“You alright?” he asked her, trying to make the question sound gruff and perfunctory, and failing. She just nodded. “We need to get out of this cell and reclaim the ship.” Sara nodded again and sat.

He sighed and sat several seats down from her, putting his foot up on the adjacent seat and resting his elbow on his knee. He watched the others for a moment. Kendra wrung her hands. It wasn’t like her to get so nervous; she was usually fairly level headed. It occurred to him after a moment that she and Ray had been together for quite a while now, what with being left in the past, and she was probably worried about him.

“Raymond got a little too curious below deck and got his nose broken for his trouble. He’s passed out in the corridor. I expect they’ll be along with him shortly. If they’re any good, that is.” Kendra looked up at him, eyes widening. When would these do-gooders realize that he wasn’t as dumb as they thought? She nodded at him, but didn’t look less concerned.

After a few minutes, two of the men returned with Palmer slung between them. He was still mostly unconscious. They left him on the floor and locked the cell again. Sara stood to make room, and together, Jax and Kendra lifted him onto the vacant row of seats. She crouched beside him, checking his airway was clear, and brushing his hair back from his forehead.

Leonard placed his foot back on the floor, giving Sara space to sit. She did, after just a moment too long. He watched her this time. She didn’t so much sit as perch on the seat, like it was very uncomfortable, and while he’d admit that they weren’t great seats, they weren’t as bad as you would guess from her posture.

“Sara,” he said, quiet even in the silence of the cell. “He hurt you, didn’t he?”

“It’ll bruise later. I’m fine.”

“Can I see?” She looked at him, just shy of a glare, for long moments. Then she sighed and looked away. He wasn’t going to back down and she knew it. She turned and lifted the edge of her shirt, prompting him to complete the action. He raised the hem slightly, continuing when he saw already red and darkening skin on the small of her back. When he lifted it enough he could tell exactly what had happened, could even make out the muzzle shape of her forming bruise. “You have a bruised kidney.”

“Not my first.” He glared at her. “I’ve had worse, Leonard.” He dropped her shirt back into place.

“I’ll say it again: we need to get out of this cell.”

Jax looked up at him from where he sat on the floor. “I could try to override the door’s power from in here. There should be a wall panel we could pry open. I hung onto a screwdriver.” He pulled a small screwdriver from his inside jacket pocket. Leonard gestured widely with his arm to the door. Jax moved to the section of wall between Leonard and the door, working the flat head of the screwdriver in between the pieces.

For a while, the only sounds were scraping metal and Jax’s grunts of effort. Leonard kept an eye on each member of the team. It was a necessary skill when you led a band of criminals with questionable morals and intelligence. He needed to know as soon as possible who would screw up, who would betray him, who would fail so he could plan accordingly. In this case, he needed to know who was losing it, who was going to panic, who was going to be a liability. Jax pulled the panel off the wall with a quiet cry of triumph. Leonard grinned crookedly. He did like the kid. Carefully, Jax drew several wires out of the panel, sliding them between his fingers.

“Does anyone have anything sharp? Like a knife or something? I need to strip these wires,” he asked, turning to look at the others.

Leonard looked at Sara and held out his hand, palm up. She looked at his hand with an eyebrow raised. He made a ‘give me’ motion with his fingers and she sighed. Carefully, she reached into her waistband, in the center of her back, and pulled a small throwing dagger out of a hidden sheath. She set it in Leonard’s hand.

“I thought Mr. Hansen instructed you to give up your weapons,” Stein said.

Sara rolled her eyes. “Yeah, like that’s gonna happen.” Leonard smirked and passed the blade to Jax, who proceeded to strip several wires. He watched each move, trying to memorize the sequence. He stripped four, but Leonard could hear boots in the corridor. Sara heard them too. “Jax, cover the panel. Now.”

He understood the tone and did as she said immediately, tucking the blade into his jacket pocket. Less than a minute later, four men appeared at the door. They waved it open, and two stepped inside. It was a ballsy move, but they had guns and their prisoners were sitting ducks. Leonard watched them and wondered if the move was actually as confident as it seemed, or if it was merely novice. These guys didn’t look like soldiers, or pirates, or criminals. One of them looked maybe like a security guard, but the other three seemed so average. Looks could be deceiving, sure, but their physical indicators did not point to space piracy as a profession.

It didn’t really matter, though, not at this moment. They had guns and they were in the cell.

“You two,” the security looking guy grunted, gesturing to Kendra and Sara in turn. “Come with us.” The girls stood, Kendra running a finger over Ray’s temple as she did so. Leonard was pretty sure she’d figured out where this was going. Sara stood stiffly, not looking at anyone, or anything. The blankness in her eyes disconcerted him, scared him almost. She was mentally preparing for what was to come.

They stepped out of the cell with the guards, who locked it again before taking the girls down the corridor. Leonard turned to Jax and nodded as soon as the footsteps had faded away. Jax pulled open the panel again, and took out Sara’s knife. He looked at each wire, dropping one back into the panel, and cutting another. Then he twisted the last two wires together and the forcefield turned off.

“Nice work, kid,” Leonard said. Jax didn’t quite beam up at him, but he could tell the praise was appreciated. And it was deserved. “You are all staying here. I’m going to talk to Gideon and see if I can figure out what’s going on.”

“What about Kendra and Sara?” Jax asked.

Leonard’s mouth twisted. “They’re being tortured. Probably to give Rip some incentive. If we can beat these guys, Gideon will patch them up.”

“Then we should come with you.”

“You shouldn’t merge on the ship, and I’m not going to save them.” His lips twisted like he was sucking a lemon. “We can’t overpower them directly. And they’ll be back. I need you here.” He tried to put a spin on his tone, convince them that this was part of the plan. The plan he was frantically trying to form in his head. “They’re going to hurt you when they realize I’m gone.”

Jax’s features hardened. “So I take one for the team.”

“Good man,” Leonard said, and meant it. He nodded once and stepped out. “Lock the cell behind me, and cover your work.” Jax nodded, and Leonard turned toward the bridge.

He crept as quietly as if he were robbing a museum, not meeting anyone on his way to the bridge. Was this crew of pirates smaller than he’d thought? He made it to the bridge without incident, and found it completely empty. He tapped a button in the corner of the central interface.

“Gideon, I need you to keep your voice down.”

“To avoid detection by the boarding party. Of course, Mr. Snart,” Gideon replied, volume much lower than usual.

“Where did they take Rip and the girls?”

“They are in the engine room, near the time drive, but they have disabled the cameras in that section of the ship.”

“Who are they, Gideon?”

“They appear to be a rogue group of traders. They are flying a stolen Mylano, which has been forcibly docked in our aft bay.”

“So, space pirates, then.” He tried not to roll his eyes. He knew the AI could see him and knew what it meant. “How many?”

“I detect six unfamiliar life signs aboard the ship and none aboard the docked craft.”

“Six?” They could take six guys, if they had the right plan and a few weapons. It would help if Raymond was awake, loathe though he was to admit it. Cold, Firestorm, and the Atom could take on six guys with blasters.

“Yes. Mr. Hansen is attempting to torture Ms. Saunders and Ms. Lance in order to force Captain Hunter’s cooperation.”

“Attempting?”

“According to their vital signs, he is having very little luck eliciting a useful response. I estimate 1.3 minutes before Ms. Saunders’s powers manifest involuntarily and they begin to fight their captors.”

He grimaced. That would not end well. “I need to think, Gideon. Let me know if anything changes.” Leonard began to pace, walked silently around the bridge, into Rip’s study, looked at his papers and notes, picked up a few odds and ends, found nothing of use, and walked back toward the console.

“Mr. Snart, I have detected a change in life signs. Two of the pirates are approaching the cell. And…” Gideon hesitated. Could an AI hesitate? “I read no life signs for Ms. Saunders or…Ms. Lance.” Leonard swallowed back the bile in his throat, the burning in the front of his face. He had to remain cool, had to lock it in.

 

* * *

 

Two guards returned to the cell. Jax sat on the floor near Ray, but he stood the moment he saw the men. They unlocked the cell and the burly one stepped inside. He gestured for Stein to stand, ignoring Jax completely. Until he realized Leonard wasn’t in the cell. He looked around for an extra moment, as if the thief was hiding somewhere in the nonexistent shadows.

“Where’s the other one?” he growled.

Jax shrugged. “He had to run out for a pint of milk.” The guard clocked him across the jaw, knocking him to his knees. “Thought you might feel that way.” The guard glared at him, but the other man in the corridor interrupted.

“Let’s just get grandpa and go. Hunter will break and it won’t matter.” The guard nodded curtly and grabbed Stein by the arm. He was roughly pulled out into the corridor and they locked the cell behind them, leaving Jax and an unconscious Ray behind.

 

* * *

 

Leonard was pacing in front of the forward window, keeping one eye on the door at all times, when Gideon spoke. “Mr. Snart, the pirates have taken Professor Stein to the engine room.”

“He won’t last long.”

“No,” Gideon confirmed.

“You won’t be able to save them, will you?”

“I cannot be certain, but I’m afraid it is very unlikely.” He went back to pacing. Normally he wasn’t the type of person to pace while he thought or planned, but he felt so trapped here, felt so powerless. He had to keep moving or he might collapse onto a chair and never get up again. He was considering a plan where they released Mick to help them take out the pirates, when Gideon spoke again. “I have lost Professor Stein’s life signs.” Leonard sighed, opened his mouth to suggest a plan, and the world went white.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like Jax would have read the manual and figured out how to deactivate the door after he couldn't get them out of the cell in Marooned.


	2. Tuesday #2 - no, not like deja vu

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Leonard realizes something strange is happening and tries to figure things out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for the kudos and comments and bookmarks. I really appreciate them!
> 
> Hope you enjoy!
> 
>  
> 
> FYI: Language in this chapter, if that bothers you

Leonard held his cold gun, the housing disassembled, and a can of condensed air. He could feel something cold under his right thigh, something that wiggled slightly and settled. Sara’s feet. He was in the training room again. After a couple of blinks to clear his eyes, he looked around. There she was, sharpening her knives, perfectly alive. What the fuck?

This couldn’t be déjà vu. It was too real. Sitting up straighter, he waited for the crash. And he wasn’t disappointed. They were both knocked to the ground again, Leonard catching his balance much quicker, even before Sara had. She looked at him curiously.

“Arm yourself,” he said, sliding the housing of his gun back together with practiced speed. Her look turned odd, but she grabbed a few knives and tucked a handgun into the back of her jeans once her boots were tied. He nodded and they moved into the corridor, quiet and sneaky.

There were voices up ahead, and then they heard Ray. “Hey! Who are you? What are you –?” Leonard cringed slightly as he heard the pirates break Ray’s nose and his head hit the floor. He tapped Sara’s elbow and they retreated into the shadows. Once the voices were gone, they continued up the corridor toward their teammate.

Sara lifted his head by the hair. She opened her mouth to speak, but didn’t get the chance. “Broken nose, he’s out,” Leonard said without thinking.

“Yeah, how did you –?”

“It’s a very distinctive sound. Let’s go,” he said, more gruffly than he intended. Why was this happening again? _Was_ it happening again? Or could one of these be a dream – or rather, a nightmare?

They crept through the ship until they reached the bridge doors. Leonard hefted his cold gun, and Sara drew a knife from her belt. They entered the bridge. And the same asshat was standing in front of the rest of the team. He glanced at them as they entered.

“Put down your weapons and join your friends,” he said with that same authority, like he was really used to people listening to him without questions. Of course, Leonard and Sara still didn’t listen to authority very well. But the same words, in the same tone, struck Leonard. It gave him pause. Sara drew the gun from her waistband, though, and that was the end of that. Leonard reached out to pull her gun hand down, just as Hansen put his blaster to Jax’s temple.

“Sara,” Leonard warned in a low voice, his hand resting on the tense muscles in her forearm. She dropped her gun hand and so did he.

“Good, now give your weapons to Axl,” Hansen said. They looked at Axl, who held Rip’s gun very carefully. He still didn’t look like a space pirate to Leonard, and Sara snorted quietly. Apparently, she wasn’t convinced either. He handed his cold gun to Axl with a deadly glare and stepped back. Sara handed him her gun, and two knives. After a beat, she pulled a third from her boot and set it on top. Axl eyed her warily. Then he left with the weapons, scampering out range of her glare, while trying to be very careful of the weapons in his arms.

Hansen waved them into line with the others. The entire boarding party, save for Axl, stood on the bridge. Five men, armed with very large blasters. “For those of you late to class, thank you for joining us. My name is Captain Hansen. Now, which one of you is the Time Master?” No one answered. “Could it be the man in the brown coat?” Hansen stepped back and looked at Rip for a moment. “Well damn, could you be _the_ Rip Hunter? Infamous renegade Time Master?” Rip didn’t answer, but he didn’t have to. “Take the others to the brig. Captain Hunter and I are going to have a little chat.”

Hansen’s men led them to the cell. When Sara tried to lag, just a step or two, to hear Hansen’s conversation with Rip, one of them struck out with his blaster. On reflex, knowing exactly where it would land, Leonard caught the muzzle in one hand. The man looked up at him, eyes wide and momentarily terrified. Leonard shook his head. Then he nudged Sara to move and he followed, daring the guard with his glare. They were locked in the cell without further incident.

As soon as the footsteps died away, Sara turned to Leonard with a glare. “What the hell was that?”

“I just thought you might prefer unbruised kidneys,” he replied, not paying as much attention to his tone as he would normally. He was too busy formulating a new plan. “Jax, you managed to hang onto a screwdriver, right?”

“Yeah, how did you know that?”

Leonard didn’t answer the question. “I need to you pry off the panel by the door, quick as you can. They’re going to bring Raymond in here in a few minutes.”

Kendra’s gaze shot up to his. “Is he okay?”

“Broken nose, he’s out cold by the machine room. He’ll be fine.”

“How do you know they’ll bring him in a few minutes?” Kendra asked.

He hesitated for just a beat, just long enough for Sara to notice, though no one else seemed to. “It’s what I would do.” He looked at Sara. “Jax is going to need your knife when he gets that panel open.”

Her brow furrowed, but she pulled the small dagger from its concealed sheath. She passed it to Jax, who tucked it in his jacket pocket. He almost had the panel open when the footsteps returned. Leonard tapped his shoulder and he hid the screwdriver, sitting with his back in front of the panel. Two men came in, dropped Ray on the floor, and left.

“Sara, help Kendra get Raymond onto those seats. Jax, you keep working on the door.” Leonard got up to look through the forcefield, checking to see if they had even one guard on patrol, but he couldn’t see anyone.

“Mr. Snart, what is it you think is going on?” Stein asked, rising in agitation. He really didn’t like being out of the loop.

“We’ve been boarded by a group of men who are apparently pirates, but don’t seem much like them. They have better weapons, but there aren’t many of them. And I’ve done this before.”

“Broken out of a cell, yes I am aware.”

“Forget it. How’s the door coming Jax? I’d like to get out of here before…” He couldn’t bring himself to finish the sentence.

Jax raised an eyebrow at him. “Almost there.” Leonard looked over at the wires, memorizing the colors and what Jax did to each. He had a bad feeling about all this. “Got it,” he said, twisting two wires together. The forcefield disappeared.

“Let’s go, Sara. The rest of you, stay here with Raymond. We’re going to find some weapons.”

“We should come, too. We can help,” Kendra said, fingers tracing over Ray’s temple.

Leonard watched the motion for a second. “No. They’re going to come for you, and you need to drag it out, buy us time. We don’t have enough of it.” It already took Jax 127 seconds to pry the panel off with the incorrect tool. And they were wasting valuable moments arguing. “Jax, lock the cell behind us. Come on, Sara.” She followed him out, quiet as a cat. Jax turned the forcefield back on and nodded at them.

They made their way down the corridor toward the crew quarters and the aft storage rooms. There was a closet full of extra Time Master weaponry somewhere around here. They hadn’t used it except to store Mick’s – Chronos’s – confiscated weapons. They turned a corner, not making a sound, and almost stumbled right into a guard, the burly one, the only one Leonard thought looked like an actual security officer. He hefted his blaster and loosed a few bolts. Sara and Leonard turned and ran, hoping to regroup behind an interior bulkhead. Leonard dove behind a wall, and realized, after a beat of horrible silence, that Sara was not with him.

He turned, stuck his head out and saw her on the floor, facing him, body twisted at an odd angle. Her eyes were open, looking right at him, glassy and unblinking. He blinked rapidly, trying to clear his vision. Then he bolted. He had to get her, take her back to the bridge. A blast zinged over his head. He could feel the heat, but he kept going. Another landed in the exact place his head had been a second earlier. Another few blasts and he couldn’t keep going. He would be hit for sure, and then who would save the team?

Ducking behind another bulkhead, he gathered his legs beneath him. He ran for the bridge, not looking back, though it killed him to leave her there. A blast narrowly missed his boot heels, but he pulled ahead of Short, Dark, and Bulky. The next handful of shots missed him by a wider and wider margin.

The moment he was past the door, he yelled, “Gideon, seal the bridge!”

“Bridge sealed, Mr. Snart.”

He let out a shaky breath. “Alright Gideon, it’s just you and me. Status on the team?”

Something shifted in her tone, such as an AI could have a tone of voice, like she understood that it was all up to them. “Captain Hunter is injured, but alive in the far aft section of the engine room, near the –”

“Time drive.”

A pause. “Yes. Ms. Saunders is also in the engine room, being tortured. I calculate 2.3 minutes until her powers manifest and the boarding party deems it necessary to…kill her. Dr. Palmer is stable, but unconscious where you left him. Mr. Jackson sustained minor injuries when the guards returned and discovered you missing. Professor Stein remains in the cell, though his blood pressure and heart rate are elevated past normal parameters. And Ms. Lance…”

“I know.” He couldn’t bear for her to say it. He’d gotten Sara killed. How many was this now, in total? Three? Plus the presumed deaths. He couldn’t think about that now. He had to focus. “Gideon, have we lived this scenario before?”

“Like déjà vu?”

“No, not like déjà vu. Actually lived this before. Is there some sort of temporal mystery spot that means we’re living this attack over again?”

“I do not understand the term ‘mystery spot’, but I do not have records of any such location in the known universes.”

“Fine, what about some sort of limited, quantum, time loop? Or whatever?”

“As depicted in the late 20th Century film Groundhog Day. Or the episode ‘Monday’ from the late 20th Century television show The X-Files. Or the early 21st Century film Edge of Tomorrow.”

He sighed. Sometimes he wished Gideon had a physical face, just so he could smack her. “Yes, like Groundhog Day. Is there anything that can create that?”

“My original programmer theorized a time loop initiator, which would create a single, stable loop of a limited time period. The Time Masters refined his design and commissioned a small number of initiators for emergency use.”

That sounded promising, but the beginning had caught his attention. “Your original programmer?”

“Yes, Barry Allen.”

Leonard opened his mouth to ask more, and the world went white again.


	3. Tuesday #3 - not this argument again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Different loop, same arguments -
> 
> In which Leonard learns more about the loop, argues about deja vu again, and angsts some more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've decided that I need to tag my angst better. I think I'm desensitized to it because I've read it in its entirety way too many times now.
> 
> I'm sorry (not that sorry) to say that Sara has kind of become my Dean Winchester in 'Mystery Spot' or Kenny in South Park. I keep killing her. Though to be fair, I keep killing everyone, like almost everyone dies at least once. But I don't write sad endings!
> 
> Also, I am continuing this story after the time loop is resolved (because it was continuing without me, so I jumped on board) and the issues of Leonard saving the team and constantly being confronted by their deaths, especially Sara's, will be dealt with. I promise!

The wall of the training room greeted him when his vision settled. Back at the beginning. He felt something cold wiggle under his thigh and he looked over. Sara. He tamped down a relieved smile. She was still sharpening her knife. Feeling his eyes on her, she looked up and smiled. He realized that he hadn’t completely managed to hide his joy at seeing her alive again.

He braced his feet against the floor and reached over to grab her waist with one hand. Her brows furrowed. And then the Mylano docked, throwing anything that wasn’t bolted down across the room. They stayed in place. Sara’s eyes widened, confused as to how he had known that would happen.

Leonard stood from his seat. “Get your boots on, we need to go.”

“What is going on?” she asked, pulling on her boots and tying them quickly.

“We’re being boarded by pirates. They want something from Rip, and the rest of us are in the way.” She reached for a couple of knives that had clattered to the floor.

“You know this how exactly?”

He gave her a look. “Later.” She rolled her eyes, but followed his lead out to the corridor. He edged them toward a shadowy alcove, waiting for the expected conversation.

“Hey! Who are you? What are you –?” And then they broke Ray’s nose. Leonard held up a closed fist, waited an extra beat and followed the voices down the corridor. Sara stopped to check on Ray, but he hurried her along.

“It’s just a broken nose, they’ll bring him to the cell about two minutes after they lock us in there,” he whispered, trying to keep her moving. They had so little time. He needed to count the seconds.

“You gonna tell me how you know this?”

“Later.” He never stopped moving. She kept pace easily, both of them moving silently through the ship. They paused for half a second before entering the bridge. It was calming from the chaos of being boarded, and their entry was clearly not welcome.

“Well, well, a couple of late comers. Your friends here were just agreeing to sit down and behave. I suggest you put down your weapons and fall in line.” Their speed to the bridge had possibly made things worse. Should they attack or surrender? The two of them could take the entire boarding party if only they didn't have blasters trained on the team, even without Atom and Firestorm. But their blasters were bigger and more powerful than anything the rest of the team had at the moment. They hadn't made it to the bridge early enough to make this stand. Leonard and Sara looked at each other. He shook his head, and they both lowered their weapons. “Good choice. Now, all weapons to Axl.” He gestured to the pudgy, unassuming pirate. “If you all cooperate, you can even have them back once we’ve got what we came for.”

He pulled Rip’s gun from its holster and handed it to Axl. Leonard handed over his cold gun with a glare. Sara piled several knives on top of that, scaring the poor man more with each blade. She pulled a throwing knife from her boot and set it on top, almost skipping over to stand in line beside Leonard. She enjoyed frightening him.

“Now, my name is Captain Hansen,” he said. Leonard saw it, though he already knew this. The man screamed high-ranking officer, even with his torn and dirty coat, in the way he demanded to be obeyed, in the way he carried himself. “This is my crew.” He gestured around at the, now, four other men on the bridge. This was his entire crew. “Now, which one of you is the Time Master?” No one answered. “Could it be the man in the brown coat?” Hansen stepped back and looked at Rip for a moment. “Well damn, could you be _the_ Rip Hunter? Infamous renegade Time Master?” Rip didn’t answer, like it would save them somehow. “Take the others to the brig. Captain Hunter and I are going to have a little chat.”

The crew began to lead them away, and Leonard put himself behind Sara, going so far as to pull her in front of him by the elbow. She shot him confused looks over her shoulder the whole way to the holding cell. They were all pushed inside and the forcefield turned on behind them. The guards moved away and Leonard turned to the others, easily assuming leadership.

“Jax, you held onto a screwdriver.” The youngest member tried to interject his confusion, but Leonard steamrollered over him. “I need you to get to work opening the door. Kendra, Raymond is passed out near the machine room. He’ll be fine, just a broken nose. They should be bringing him here in a few minutes. Sara.” He turned to her. “Jax is gonna need your knife.” She nodded and pulled it from her waistband, handing the small blade to Jax. He’d grabbed one as well, but Sara’s was undoubtedly sharper, and the others were relatively unsurprised by it.

“You gonna explain now?” she asked Leonard.

He sighed and gave a curt nod. “I’ve done this before.”

“Broken out of a cell? Yes, I believe we are aware,” Stein said. Again. Really, people didn’t change.

“Not that. This attack. It’s happened before.”

“Like déjà vu,” Kendra said.

Not this argument again. “No, not like déjà vu. I’ve actually lived it before.”

“How is that not déjà vu?” Jax asked.

Leonard glared at him. “I have lived through this attack before, twice now.”

“Like Groundhog Day,” Kendra offered.

“Yes,” he sighed, “like Groundhog Day. The last two times it ended…badly. And then I was back in the training room with Sara.”

“You were smiling at me. Is that why?” Sara asked. He glanced at her, hesitated, and nodded once. “We all died, didn’t we?”

There were footsteps in the corridor, and he gestured around for them to stop. Jax slid over to cover the panel with his back. Two men stepped into the cell, dropping Ray on the floor and retreating again. He gestured for Kendra to grab Ray around the knees and he picked him up at the shoulders. Together, they set him on an empty bank of seats, turning him on his side so the blood from his nose wouldn’t drain down his throat and choke him.

“Len?” Sara prompted from the side. She’d been considering what he’d said and not said for the last few moments.

He turned to her, remembering her question. “Both times, Jax and Raymond were left alive here in the cell. They come for you and Kendra first.”

“To encourage Rip to cooperate,” she said flatly. She knew what it meant, just as she had the first time.

He nodded. “Then they come for you, Professor.”

Stein swallowed, then stuck out his chin. “I don’t last long, do I?” Leonard shook his head.

Sara put a finger to her lips, considering his words for a moment. “What happened on the way to the cell?” He raised an eyebrow. “You were a little overprotective.” She held up her thumb and forefinger, pinched close together.

“You got a little too curious the first time, and that idiot of a guard doesn’t know how to cause pain without damage. And you’re no good to my plan with a bruised kidney.”

Her expression softened and she smiled up at him. “You’re sweet.” He rolled his eyes.

“Shouldn’t any good space pirate know how to inflict pain to encourage cooperation without causing serious and immediate damage? I would assume that would be a common practice amongst criminals such as these,” Stein asked.

“I wondered the same thing,” Leonard said. He looked over at Jax. “How are we coming, kid?”

Jax cut one wire, holding onto the other two. “Ready when you are.”

“Alright, I’m going to find weapons and come back.”

“I’m coming with you,” Sara said, standing.

“No,” Leonard replied, too quickly.

She narrowed her eyes. “Why not?”

He groaned. They were wasting valuable time arguing about this. “Because you died last time!” Leonard almost never yelled. Sara’s eyebrows shot up. “You escaped with me and you got shot and I had to leave you there. So, no, you’re not coming with me.” His voice slowed and calmed.

“So I can stay here and die anyway. They’ll torture us. You and I both know we won’t break, we’ll never give Rip a reason to give up. They’ll kill us first. So what does it matter?”

“Fine.” His voice was gruff and short. But they were wasting time. And she was right. “Open it.” Jax crossed the wires and the forcefield died. “Lock it behind us.” Then they stepped out into the corridor. “Short, Dark, and Bulky is down that way. We need to watch out for him.” Sara nodded and led them toward the weapons storage.

Thanks to her stealth and short detours, they managed to avoid anyone until they reached the closet. Axl sat on the floor in front of it, their pile of weapons beside his hip. Leonard’s cold gun was partially disassembled in his hands, and he was examining the inner workings. Frustrated and still angry from arguing with the team, Leonard clocked him across the jaw almost before he saw them coming. He grabbed Rip’s gun from the pile, as he didn’t have time to put his back together. Sara tucked two knives into her belt and they turned to the closet that held all the big, high-tech weaponry they never needed.

A blast came around the corner, leaving a scorched dent in the wall behind them. Sara and Leonard ran toward the bridge. She half-turned and threw one of her knives. Her aim was true, and it hit SD&B in the shoulder. But he was all muscle and it had very little effect. He kept blasting and they ran faster, Leonard shooting blindly behind him. They exchanged a few more volleys. And then he heard Sara cry out. His stomach dropped out and he knew without turning around that it had happened again. He ducked into the corridor beside him and loosed a few bolts around the corner, just enough for cover. Sara’s body – and that phrase was unpleasant even in his head – was just a few feet away. And he couldn’t just leave her. Not again. He loosed a couple more shots and ran for her, grabbing her limp waist in one arm and dragging her behind the wall. It took him a moment to arrange himself, tossing Sara over one shoulder in a fireman’s carry. He picked up Rip’s gun again and took off, shooting behind him and running fast enough to keep the guard from gaining any ground.

The door to the bridge was just ahead. When he was steps away and the door was open, he yelled, “Gideon, seal the bridge!” He skidded between the closing doors, feeling like a baseball player running for home plate, and they shut tight behind him.

“Bridge sealed, Mr. Snart.”

“Team status. Update me.”

For a second Gideon seemed almost taken aback – as much as an AI could be, though she _had_ been programmed by Barry Allen – by his abrupt orders. “Captain Hunter is –”

“Injured but alive, engine room, aft near the time drive. The others, Gideon, we’re on a tight timeline here.” He set Sara carefully in one of the seats, as he yelled commands at Gideon.

There was a telling pause before she continued. “Dr. Palmer is unconscious but stable. Mr. Jackson sustained minor injuries when the guards retrieved Ms. Saunders. She was injured in the engine room, until her powers manifested and Mr. Hansen…killed her. Professor Stein is now in the engine room. His blood pressure is elevated, but his injuries are only minor. I calculate at most 2.4 minutes before they become critical.”

“Ok, tell me about the time loop initiator.”

“It was theorized by my original programmer and manufactured by the Council of Time Masters for emergency use.”

“Does the Waverider have one?”

She paused. “Captain Hunter procured one for this mission in case of extreme emergencies.”

“Meaning he stole it from the Time Masters.” The more Leonard learned about Rip, the more he seemed to be aligned with the crook and the assassin and less with the do-gooders. He’d stolen a lot of tech and kidnapped a lot of people for this mission. “How does it work?”

“I believe the temporal mechanics are above your comprehension, Mr. Snart. Not even Professor Stein or Dr. Palmer would be able to completely comprehend how the initiator functions.” Leonard almost rolled his eyes. “Barry Allen was not able to theorize the device until he had created multiple, accidental time loops.”

“That’s all well and good, Gideon, but it’s not what I meant. How is the device activated?”

“A loop can be manually initiated through the device’s interface with the time drive. Or it can be activated through an intrinsic voice command.”

He opened his mouth to clarify, when the world went white.


	4. Tuesday #4 - we tried that already

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Sara remembers, Leonard learns more, and they try to do things differently this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for lots of Leonard angst in this chapter and Sara dying a more visible death. Sorry. Ish.
> 
> Thank you for all your comments and kudos! I really appreciate them!!!

Leonard blinked rapidly, vision settling on the training room wall, Sara’s cold toes wiggling under his thigh. The sound of her sharpening her knife stopped short.

“Len?” He looked over at her. Her eyes were wide and knowing. “I died.” He nodded stiffly, reaching out to grab her waist. His feet were only just braced against the floor when the Mylano docked. Sara jumped up, adrenaline forcing the questions from her mind, and stuffed her feet into her boots.

“Wait, Sara.” She looked up at him. “I’ve lived this three times already. We can’t help Raymond, and getting to the bridge faster makes things worse.” She nodded shortly, although she couldn’t remember anything of the times before the last one. “We wait, arm ourselves properly, and then attack when Hansen thinks he’s rounded up the whole crew.” Sara considered this and nodded. She laced her boots properly, Leonard reassembled his cold gun and tucked a handgun into his jeans. Sara slipped several knives into various places, a small handgun into her waistband, and tucked her collapsed batons into her boots. She nodded at him and they stalked out of the training room.

They both stepped past Ray without more than a glance. They knew he was fine, or would be. There were no voices ahead of them in the corridor this time. It was eerie. Sara pulled her batons from her boots and extended them with a quiet schnickt. They stopped briefly at the door to the bridge, and then entered as a unit, each covering one side of the room. Hansen stood in front of the team, monologuing. Sara beat the guards on the left side of the room, twirling like a lethal ballerina from one mook to the next. Leonard’s first casualty was Axl, whose surprised expression was frozen in ice. He moved on Hansen, but the pirate captain leveled his blaster at Sara’s head as she reached him. A couple of his men were beginning to stagger to their feet, but the room was otherwise still and silent. Sara looked beyond pissed. Leonard glanced from one to the other.

“Put down your weapons and join your friends,” Hansen said, remarkably calm.

Sara shook her head minutely. He knew she didn’t want him to give in. It wasn’t clear whether she meant he shouldn’t because she could take Hansen, or Hansen would kill her regardless, or she didn’t care if she died. His lip curled involuntarily. Probably all three. But he cared, damn it. He lowered his cold gun and Sara’s anger turned on him. He hoped she could see that he was sorry about that, but he’d watched her die enough times today.

Then Hansen shot her.

Someone yelled. He realized several long moments later that it was him. Two guards, sporting red marks and fresh bruises, grabbed his arms, relieving him of his weapons and forcing him into line with the others. He could see Sara’s body on the floor. Hansen stepped over her like she wasn’t even there, placing himself directly in front of the crew, ending his now familiar speech.

“Take the others to the brig. Captain Hunter and I are going to have a little chat.”

They were frog marched off the bridge, Leonard getting a shove in the back when he tried to crane his neck for one last look. Rip’s Adam’s apple bobbed, as he tried to keep his gaze steady on Hansen’s face, not look down at Sara.

Once they were inside the cell, Kendra stepped over to lay a hand on his shoulder. He shrugged her off before she’d even really made contact. He couldn’t dwell on it. He had to think.

“Jax, get to work opening the door.” He handed him a small blade from his inside jacket pocket, that he’d put there when they’d armed themselves, just in case. Jax nodded, swallowing thickly, and got to work. “They’ll bring Raymond in a few minutes,” he said, voice raw and hollow. He’d said it quite a few times now. “We’re in a time loop, like Groundhog Day,” he added, preempting several questions.

“You mean to say that a stable, continuous time loop is not just theoretically possible, but actually occurring and you are the only member of the team who can remember the events of previous loops?” Stein asked, much too interested for Leonard’s misfiring brain to handle.

“The way I understand it, we aren’t in a continuous loop. It’s multiple, independent loops of the same events. I think Rip is triggering it every time we fail to stop the pirates.”

“But none of us remember it?” Kendra asked.

“It was just me, but Sara remembered this time.”

“How many loops have we been through now?” Kendra asked.

“This is the fourth time we’ve done this. But Sara doesn’t remember more than the last loop.”

Stein considered this for a moment, disregarding Leonard’s misuse of tense. “I believe the question you must ask is what was different about Ms. Lance’s experience of the last loop.”

Leonard tapped Jax on the shoulder and he covered the partially open panel with his back. Two guards walked in and dropped Ray on the floor. Leonard and Kendra lifted him onto the seats and turned him on his side, though Leonard wasn’t paying much attention to the action. He was considering the differences.

“Sara was tortured and killed after they took you two to incentivize Rip,” he said, glancing at Kendra. She took it well, just nodding. “The second time, she was shot halfway to the weapons closet by Short, Dark, and Bulky.” No one questioned his ersatz name for one of their guards.

“Perhaps it can only be remembered by someone who is alive when the loop occurs,” Stein offered. “Did she survive the last loop?”

Leonard’s lips pressed into a thin line. “No. Jax has survived every loop so far, according to Gideon. And Sara died on the way back from the weapons closet last time. Shot by Short, Dark, and Bulky again.” A light went off in his eyes, melting just a bit of the ice in them. “But I took her to the bridge.” Stein looked at him, encouraging him to continue. “I’ve been on the bridge when every loop began.”

“Where did we die the first time?” Kendra asked, brushing hair from Ray’s temple.

“In the engine room, near the time drive. And I had to leave Sara by the weapons closet when we escaped.”

“That makes sense,” Jax said, prying wires from the wall. Everyone turned to look at him. “What? I’m practically the maintenance guy on this ship; I read the whole manual.”

Leonard raised an eyebrow. “Ninety seconds before the guards come back.”

“The bridge and the time drive are on opposite ends of the ship, as far apart as possible, to minimize the effects on the crew. So if the time drive is causing the loop, or Rip is making it cause the loop, the bridge is where it would be felt the least.”

He could hear footsteps down the corridor. “They’re going to take you Kendra.” She nodded. “I’ll fix it on the next loop.” She quirked a tiny smile. He was acting pretty heroic for a criminal.

Jax covered the open panel just before they walked in. “Come with us,” the taller one demanded, brandishing his blaster. Short, Dark, and Bulky was behind him in the corridor. This one looked more like an engineer. Leonard wondered again about this crew of pirates. After a moment, he realized Tall Egghead was sporting a massive black eye, courtesy of Sara. He smiled to himself.

Kendra stood and followed the guards out of the cell. She spared a last glance at Ray and then continued down the corridor with her head held high. Jax shuffled away from the wall and twisted the last two wires, deactivating the forcefield.

“Stay here with Raymond. I’m going to talk to Gideon.”

“We’ll get ‘em on the next loop,” Jax said, trying to be encouraging. Leonard nodded. Then he was gone, up the corridor toward the bridge. He sealed it the second he was past the doors.

“Bridge sealed, Mr. Snart.”

He swallowed back the bile in his throat when his gaze fell on Sara’s crumpled form. He took several precious moments to pick her up and set her in one of the seats. It would ruin his focus to see her on the floor every time he glanced around. He could almost convince himself she was just unconscious this way.

“Ok Gideon, how long until Kendra cracks?”

“I estimate 2.6 minutes.” He nodded once. Then he walked around the console, thinking. He caught sight of Axl, encased in ice, and gave him a shove with his booted foot. The frozen pirate went sliding across the floor, hitting the far wall and breaking into several pieces. It was satisfying, in some sick way.

“Gideon, I have a couple of questions and you to need be specific. Is there a tool that could help Jax override the holding cell forcefield from the inside?”

“There is a laser screwdriver in the maintenance locker two doors forward from the training room. It will open the panel in under thirty seconds, but Mr. Jackson will still need a sharp edge to strip and cut the appropriate wires.”

“Good enough. Now, this time loop initiator, it’s not erasing my memory of the loop because I’ve been on the bridge when it loops.”

“That is correct, Mr. Snart. The initiator is adjacent to the time drive in the aft section of the engine room, where Captain Hunter is being threatened by Mr. Hansen.”

“Will Rip have to trigger it manually from the engine room?”

“He can use the intrinsic verbal command that he programmed into my databanks.”

“The pirates disabled the cameras in the engine room.”

“Audio transmissions are not completely linked to the cameras, as microphones are needed for all voice commands. I am able to monitor the activities in the engine room through audio only. Would you like me to broadcast the feed through the bridge speakers?”

“No,” he said quickly. He didn’t think he could deal with listening to his team be tortured today. It had been trying enough. “No, I don’t need to hear it Gideon. How do you know how long to set the time loop for?”

“The command instructs me to calculate the optimal moment to return to.”

“Right. What about Mick? Could we release him and use his help to beat the pirates?”

“I calculate a 1.2% chance that Mr. Rory will agree to assist in fighting the pirates if released.”

“Would he help them?”

“I calculate a 0.7% chance that he will assist the pirates. My projections indicate he will express hostility and refuse to assist either side out of spite.”

Leonard sighed. “Well there goes that plan.” He leaned heavily against the console. “Gideon, let me know when Kendra’s status changes. I need to think.” He pushed away from the console and began to pace around. On every pass, he caught sight of Sara’s limp form in the seat and he had to swallow back his heart, which was trying to climb out of his throat. Why exactly did he think it would hurt less if he ignored this? He sighed and moved to sit in the forward window.

“I can no longer detect Ms. Saunders’s life signs.”

“Have they taken Stein to the engine room yet?”

“The pirates are escorting him there now. And Mr. Jackson has sustained minor injuries.” Leonard nodded and stared down at his feet. There was a plan, somewhere on the edge of his perception, but it was fuzzy. The time loop was messing with his head. And so was Sara’s penchant for dying.

He could always grab the laser screwdriver for Jax. That could help them escape. They could call Hansen’s bluff when he threatened Jax each time they burst onto the bridge, but Leonard was pretty sure it wasn’t a bluff. But he and Sara were faster, they could take him down. He sighed. They were faster than Hansen, sure, but were they faster than his blaster? That was the real question.

“What do you think, Sara?” he asked aloud. He knew she couldn’t answer him, but soon they’d be back in the training room again. God, he was really losing it.

“Mr. Snart –” Gideon began. And then he saw nothing, just the blinding white behind his eyes again. It was starting to give him a headache.


	5. Tuesday #5 - stop dying would you?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Leonard pretends he's not getting attached and someone different dies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, warning for angst, again. I'm really sorry for the person I kill in the beginning of this chapter. I didn't like doing it, but it needed to be done.
> 
> Thank you all so much for the kudos and comments! I hope you enjoy this chapter!!
> 
> The loop will be resolved in the next chapter, so stay tuned, folks!

Leonard’s vision settled on the grey metal of the training room wall again. Sara’s toes were cold and wiggling under his thigh. The whetstone on her knife stopped.

“God, that’s disconcerting,” she said.

“You get used to it,” he replied automatically, wrapping his arm around her waist and bracing his feet against the floor. She wrapped her free hand around his forearm, and if he held her a little tighter this time, she didn’t mention it. The Mylano docked, shaking the whole ship, just as it had every time before.

“Really?” She raised an eyebrow.

“No.” They stood from the bench, moving to arm themselves again. “Do me a favor and stop dying, would you?”

She smirked. “Getting attached, crook?”

He glared at her, but it was weak. “Keeps throwing off my concentration.”

She smiled and laid a hand on his arm. “I’ll work on it.” She picked up her batons and tucked them into her boots, adding a couple more knives to the armory on her person. Leonard turned to grab a few of the lesser used weapons in the racks, tucking a small blade in his inner jacket pocket again. “So what’s the plan this time?”

“To not do what we did last time.” She almost laughed. Last time had been a disaster and she’d been out before most of it even started. “I think we go back to the original strategy, except we shoot him before he can shoot Jax.”

“And if it doesn’t work, we’ll just try again on the next loop.” Leonard almost cringed. There had been enough death today. He wasn’t even particularly fond of the idea of killing the pirates anymore, except maybe Hansen.

He turned back to her. “We should grab the laser screwdriver for Jax, just in case we end up in the cell again.” Sara nodded vaguely, her eyebrows raised. Leonard closed his eyes. She’d been dead for that conversation, even though she’d been sitting just behind him. “It’s in the maintenance locker, two doors up.” She nodded, more firmly this time, and they left the training room in silence. Leonard pulled open the appropriate locker, and pulled the tool from its niche. He tucked it in a crafty pocket inside his jacket and they set off again.

They stepped over Ray, safe in the knowledge that he would be fine, and followed the corridors up to the bridge. Leonard wondered for half a moment if Ray could be woken and made an asset on the next loop, should it become necessary. They really needed more power if taking out the pirates on the bridge was unsuccessful. Especially since Mick wasn’t going to be any help. He tucked that thought into the back of his mind. He’d come back to it if this failed.

Sara and Leonard met no one on the way to the bridge. They stopped a few meters from the door, Sara attaching her batons to form her staff and Leonard priming his gun.

“Sara,” he began, not sure how to continue. This was the point at which everything had gone wrong before.

“I know, Len. We can do this.” He nodded and they entered the bridge.

It wasn’t in chaos like the last time. The team was lined up in front of the monologuing Hansen, and the guards were scattered throughout as before. Axl, who stood to one side holding Rip’s gun, looked perplexed, glancing around at the others with wide eyes. He’d been on the bridge when the loop began, frozen and shattered, but on the bridge nonetheless. So far, it seemed he was still puzzling through the facts of the situation. Leonard hit him in the side of the head with the butt of his cold gun. At least if he was injured, his comrades would try to remove him from the bridge, and he wouldn’t get wise and start blasting. Sara twirled around the other side of the room, knocking down pirates with her staff. She had more grace in one hand than Leonard had in his whole body, and it was always impressive to see her use that to make people hurt.

He aimed his gun at Hansen. “Let them go.” The pirate captain grabbed Jax by the collar, hauling him over and pressing his blaster to the kid’s temple. This was the moment.

“Put it down, or the kid gets it.” Leonard had to refrain from rolling his eyes. Different century, same threatening repartee.

“I asked first.” His smirk put Hansen off for a second, but he recovered and fired a warning shot in Sara’s direction. It missed by miles, but the effect was the same. “I thought you were going to drop the kid,” Leonard said, trying to grasp the quickly unraveling threads of this situation. Sara swung out at one guard who was getting back up. It was Short, Dark, and Bulky. He hoped she gave him a concussion.

Hansen smirked. “I will.” He pressed the blaster harder into Jax’s temple, making the youngest team member wince.

“Do it, Len!” Sara shouted. They’d discussed this, in the silent, shorthanded way they had. He would shoot Hansen. So he did, aiming for his lower torso and elbow, a part of him that would be painful, hopefully incapacitating, and wasn’t covered by Jax. He shoved Jax toward Leonard to block the blast, and then shot him in the temple. The younger man fell limply toward Len, who caught him with one arm and carefully put him on the floor.

Stein screamed, “Jefferson!” And then he collapsed sideways into Kendra, still conscious, but legs buckling at the physical shock.

Short, Dark, and Bulky clocked Sara across the jaw in the confusion, while she was distracted by Jax.

“Now, put down your weapons,” Hansen said, spreading his arms genially. In direct opposition to Short, Dark, and Bulky, who Leonard could see behind him. The guard had regained his blaster and was aiming it at Sara, who was propped up on one arm, rubbing her jaw.

Leonard sighed, lowering his gun. He handed it roughly to Axl, who was struggling to his feet with a massive goose egg on his head. The pudgy man flinched, and Leonard smiled. Short, Dark, and Bulky covered Sara with his blaster as she got up and walked over to Axl. Leonard knew how many weapons she was carrying; she’d enjoy scaring him even more this time. She set her staff in the crook of Axl’s elbows, then proceeded to remove two throwing knives, three stars, and a stiletto blade from exterior pockets and sheaths.

“All of your weapons,” Hansen said, not taking any chances. She sighed and pulled two more knives from inner pockets, then a handgun from a concealed holster under her jacket, then two throwing daggers from each boot. She looked at him with raised eyebrows. “I said _all_ of them.” She rolled her eyes and reached into her waistband. Leonard’s brow furrowed. That was the most concealed sheath she had, it wouldn’t even be found on a search, why was she giving it up? His eyes widened as she pulled a tiny pistol from where it was tucked and set it on top. “Thank you.” He waved her over to join the rest of the team.

Behind Hansen, his men were helping each other up, dusting off, reclaiming their blasters, and generally sending death glares at Sara. Apparently they didn’t like getting their asses handed to them by a female assassin.

“For those of you late to class, thank you for joining us. My name is Captain Hansen. Now, which one of you is the Time Master?” No one answered, just as they hadn’t every time before. “Could it be the man in the brown coat?” Hansen stepped back and looked at Rip for a moment. “Well damn, could you be _the_ Rip Hunter? Infamous renegade Time Master?” Rip didn’t answer; he never answered. “Take the others to the brig. Captain Hunter and I are going to have a little chat.”

Leonard nudged Sara in front of him as they were led out, placing himself between her and any guard with a grudge. She went willingly, but with a little eye roll she didn’t think he caught. Kendra supported Stein as they walked, unsteady and shell-shocked as he was from losing Jax. They were roughly corralled into the cell, Kendra somehow managing to keep Martin upright. She lowered him into a seat and sat beside him. Sara and Leonard took the opposite side of the cell, the latter sitting on the floor in front of the seats.

“It’s going to be alright,” Kendra whispered, shushing noises and comforts tumbling from her lips. She rubbed a hand over Martin’s back. She looked worried, too.

“Ray’s passed out on the lower deck,” Sara said.

“Just a broken nose,” Leonard continued.

“They'll bring him up here in a few minutes.”

Kendra and Stein looked between them, their pain momentarily overshadowed by confusion.

“106 seconds,” Leonard said. Sara shrugged.

“How –?” Kendra tried to ask.

“We’re caught in a time loop,” Leonard answered.

“Like Groundhog Day,” Sara continued.

“Jax will remember on the next loop.”

“But for now, we need to get out of here.” Sara and Leonard looked at each other. “Do you think we could all make it to the bridge this time? Not stop for weapons and try to get them to remember for next time,” Sara said.

He pursed his lips. “Not with two injured. We’ll be caught as soon as they realize we’re gone.”

“Wait a moment, please. Are you implying that we are caught in a stable, continuous temporal loop, and you are the only people who can remember it?”

“Not implying it, Doc,” Leonard said. “And it’s not a continuous loop. Rip keeps activating the loop every time we don’t defeat the pirates. He doesn’t remember that we’ve done this before because he’s only a few feet from the time drive every time it loops. The bridge is the only place on the ship far enough. At least according to Jax’s understanding of the time drive.”

“Did you ask Gideon about it?” Sara asked.

“Yes, you were –” He stopped short. She was there, too. But she was dead at the time. “Gideon confirmed it. And Axl remembered this time, too.”

“He did look really confused,” Sara said. “You shot him on the bridge last time. They didn’t move him?” Leonard shook his head.

They heard footsteps in the corridor and two guards came in, dropping Ray in the center of the floor. They left as quickly as they’d come, apparently intent on returning to assist their captain. It made Leonard and Sara smile to see the bruises they were sporting, though.

“Sara, help Kendra with Raymond. And see if there’s anything we can do about him.” He pulled the laser screwdriver from his jacket and set to work on the panel. It took him a little longer than it would have taken Jax, seeing as he’d never used this particular tech before. But he had it open by the time the girls had settled Ray on the bench behind him. He pulled a small blade from his jacket and stripped the same wires as Jax. He looked at them, recognizing the differences. He put one back in the wall, cut the next one, and held the others to open the door when he needed to.

“What do you want us to do with him?” Sara asked.

“Can we wake him up?”

“You’re thinking he could be helpful next loop.”

“If he’s conscious, it would be easier, yes.”

“Getting attached to Ray, now, too?” she teased. He glared up at her, but it didn’t have much effect. “I think we can wake him up. Are any of those wires live?”

“I think this one is,” he said, pulling lightly on the wire he had discarded. “You wanna electrocute Raymond?”

“Just a little.”

Leonard shrugged, though he really wanted to give her a wicked smile and tell her that she was an assassin after his own heart. But not in front of the others. Even if they wouldn’t remember it later. He would.

Sara and Kendra shifted Ray around, moving him to the floor and propping his head against the seats to keep it upright. Kendra looked more than a little concerned, but that was to be expected when your two most morally grey teammates told you they wanted to electrocute your boyfriend. But only a little. Sara tugged off Ray’s shoe and sock, stretching his long leg toward Leonard. The thief pulled the wire further from the wall and touched the exposed wire to his smallest toe, which was closest. He pulled it away immediately, Ray’s body twitching involuntarily, but not particularly violently. He’d had worse in the gulag, much worse.

Ray yelled in surprise and pain for a moment, but it came out as a sort of choked groan. “Wass happ’ng?” he said, voice thick and heavy.

“Oh, good, you’re awake. Pirates have boarded the ship. Sara and I are going to the bridge. You’re going to stay here.”

“Hungh?”

Leonard rolled his eyes. “You’re useless like this without your suit. Except maybe as a punching bag.”

“What?” Kendra asked, turning to look at Leonard.

“They like to hit whoever is still in here after they come back and find us gone,” Sara explained. “They’ll take you first Kenrda.”

“And then you, Professor.” Stein nodded, either remarkably strong or just numb, it was hard to tell. “We’re going to talk to Gideon. Next loop will be different.” Leonard twisted the wires together and the forcefield deactivated. “Lock that behind us.” Kendra nodded, moving to the panel to untwist the wires and replace the panel.

Sara and Leonard took off down the corridor, moving as quickly as they could quietly. There were footsteps coming up the corridor just as they reached the corner.

“Hey! You there!” They were giving chase, and Tall Egghead was surprisingly fast.

“Gideon open the door!” Sara shouted. Gideon did so. A few blasts came their way, missing but not by much.

“Gideon, what’s the time loop command?” Leonard asked, ducking as a blast soared over his head.

“Ruins of Arcadia,” she replied in a discordantly friendly voice.

“Gideon, seal–” Leonard started to command. He saw Sara hit the floor, sliding just beyond the doors, and the moment his foot crossed the threshold everything went black.

 

* * *

 

He felt something familiar in the dark, just inches from his hand. But he couldn’t see his hand. He reached out blindly, even though it felt like his eyes were wide open. His fingers brushed a hand, cold and small, but strong. He intertwined their fingers and squeezed. Sara squeezed back. He couldn’t speak. He could open his mouth and try, but it felt like it was stuffed with cotton wool. Not pleasant, but not painful either. It was empty and lonely in the dark, aside from Sara. They were dead, he realized slowly. This is what she meant. He wondered what came after. He’d wondered for much of his life. Hellfire for them, probably, but he was still curious.

Sara would probably know, though she might not remember. She’d mentioned once that it was hard to even remember the pit, despite her nightmares about it.

But time would loop again, he remembered in a flash. They were on the bridge, so they should remember. Any minute, he would open his eyes and her cold toes would be wiggling under his thigh again.

Time was fluid and it felt both like five minutes and a hundred years later, the world went white behind his eyes.


	6. Tuesday #6 - we need a new plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Leonard and Sara come up with a new plan and Ray is finally useful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the resolution of the time loop! It's also the end of my pre-written chapters. I can't guarantee my posting schedule now, but I wouldn't bet on more often than once a week. I'll try to keep to that.
> 
> Anyway, I loved all your comments on the last chapter! And thank you so much for the kudos!
> 
> Enjoy!

Leonard opened his eyes on a blink and saw the training room wall. Sara’s cold toes burrowed farther under his thigh. He looked over at her. She was watching him with a curious expression.

“So that’s what it’s like to die.”

“At least we weren’t alone.” He wrapped an arm around her waist, bracing them for the impact. Everything but them was thrown across the room when the Mylano docked. “We need a new plan this time, Len.”

“Gideon, can you shield this room from the pirates? We need to talk.”

“Training room shielded. What can I help you with Mr. Snart?”

“Are there medical supplies to wake up Raymond?”

“Medical supplies?” Sara asked from his side.

He glanced at her. “I doubt anything in here will be much help. And opening the wall to shock him would take too long.” She nodded, starting to see his plan.

“I can prepare an injection that will encourage alertness.”

“Then do.”

“It will be in the medical bay in approximately three minutes. Can I assist you with anything else?”

Sara chimed in, “Where is the boarding party now?”

“Mr. Hansen and his boarding party have converged on the bridge. The crew is also there and unharmed.”

“They didn’t give us up on any of the other loops.”

Sara nodded. “Could sneak around, pretend we’re not here. We know where they’ll be and when now.”

Leonard grinned down at her, the mischievous, snarky grin he’d smiled in private every time a plan fell together perfectly. “Alright, weapons. What do you _heroes_ say when you arm yourselves for battle?”

“Ollie always told us to suit up.” A smirk played at the corner of her mouth.

He wrinkled his nose. “You vigilantes are all the same.” She chuckled. “I’m not going to tell you to suit up.” She smirked again. That was exactly what he was saying.

They both turned to arm themselves properly. Sara tucked several knives and throwing stars about her person, and two handguns. She grabbed her collapsed batons, tucking them into her boots to keep her hands free for the moment. Leonard clicked the housing of his cold gun back together, and grabbed a handgun and a couple of knives just in case. They weren’t really his usual choice. Sara tossed the small case containing Ray’s Atom suit to him without looking. He caught it and tucked it into his jacket. They grabbed their comms and took the others for the team.

“Gideon,” Sara began. “Can we talk to you on our comms?”

“Yes, Ms. Lance. I will transfer my voice to the earpieces.” They both slipped the comms into their ears.

They met at the door. Leonard looked down at Sara. “We could die out there. Again.” She nodded silently. “I’m getting really fucking tired of watching you die,” he gritted out. Her eyes widened and she looked up at him anew. “So we have to win this time.” He curled his arm around her waist, pulling her flush against him and kissing her soundly. Their weaponry clinked together in the quiet room and Sara let out a breathy little moan against his mouth. She brought a hand up to cradle the back of his head and keep him there, the other fisting in his shirt. They pulled apart slowly, by inches, until they could look at each other. “For luck,” he said, smirking.

A laugh bubbled out of her lips. She pulled farther back. “You’re on, crook.”

“Ladies first, assassin.”

“Gideon, open the door.”

The door slid open and they crept out into the corridor. It was silent and they made no more than a whisper of sound as they followed the corridor up to where Ray was passed out. Leonard bent down and slipped the Atom suit into Palmer’s pocket while Sara covered him. He stood and tapped his comm.

“Gideon, update.”

“The pirates are escorting the crew to the holding cell. Mr. Hansen has remained on the bridge with Captain Hunter. I recommend leaving this corridor within 90 seconds to avoid possible detection.”

“Thanks Gideon,” Sara said quietly.

“Gideon, can you play the bridge audio in our comms?”

“Of course, Mr. Snart.”

Her voice was immediately replaced by clear audio of Hansen. “Rip fucking Hunter is saying it’s impossible?”

“Yes,” Rip said, sounding strained. “You will not be able to return to events in which you took part. The time drive won’t allow it.”

“But your time drive wasn’t there. So it’s not impossible. You _can_ go back and save my crew.” Leonard and Sara looked at each other, eyebrows raised. She turned and waved for him to follow. Hansen would have to bring Rip halfway down this corridor on the way to the engine room and they needed to get to the medbay before that.

“No,” Rip said, more forceful this time. “The time drive will detect the anomaly – you and your men – and refuse to jump.” Leonard was pretty sure that wasn’t true.

“You can override it, manually jump from the engine room.” There was a scuffling sound, and a bit of Rip insisting that it didn’t work that way, and then just heavy footsteps leaving the bridge. Ten seconds later, they turned onto the medbay corridor and hurried quietly away from Hansen’s footsteps.

As soon as they stepped into the medbay, Leonard ordered Gideon to seal it. “Gideon, let us know when they take Raymond to the holding cell.”

“Of course. The medical supplies to assist in his immediate recovery are prepared.” A door slid up, revealing a futuristic syringe, some gauze, and a stiff bandage strip. Leonard grabbed it all, tucking it under one arm. He only really needed one hand for his cold gun, but Sara needed both for her staff.

 

* * *

 

In the holding cell, Jax was trying to keep the rest of them calm. He could remember dying, which was a very weird thing to think so he tried not to dwell on it, but he also remembered this happening before. And Sara and Snart had come for them before, even though they had failed.

“They’re going to come for us,” he said, looking at Kendra and Stein. “They did before and they will this time.”

“What do you mean this time?” Kendra asked.

Jax gestured with his hands. “I don’t know exactly. Maybe some sort of Groundhog Day, thing. Like I remember being on the bridge when the pirates came in, and Hansen was rounding us up, and then Snart and Sara came in. They were ready, like they already knew what was coming and where everyone in the room was. Like they’d done that before. And then Hansen shot me.” He hesitated, decided not to mention what being dead was like at all, and continued. “And when I woke up, I was back on the bridge like before. And then the pirates were there again, but everyone was acting like it was the first time.”

“So, you’re suggesting we are in some sort of time loop?” Stein asked, a touch incredulous.

“That’s the only thing that makes sense, Grey. They already knew what they would find on the bridge, I could tell.”

“But they didn’t come for us this time, Jax,” Kendra said, her voice low and gentle. “They might be dead.”

He shook his head. “No, I think they’re learning. Trying to save us on the bridge didn’t work.” He paused for a moment, thinking. “And if they were on the bridge when the loop started, they would remember like I do. It’s the farthest place from the time drive, so you feel the effects less there!” Stein tilted his head, considering Jax’s statement for a moment.

Two guards stepped up to the forcefield, Ray slung between them. They opened the cell, dropped him on the floor, and left. Kendra and Jax hurried to pick him up and set him on the bench at the back of the cell. His nose was bloodied and broken, so they turned him on his side so he didn’t choke. In turning him, Kendra’s hand caught on the slight bulge in his pocket. She pulled the hard case of the Atom suit out of his pocket, furrowing her brow. He normally didn’t carry it on the ship.

 

* * *

 

“Ms. Lance, Mr. Snart, the pirates are moving Dr. Palmer to the holding cell on the bridge level. If you route through the bridge, you can avoid detection and arrive shortly after they have left. 

Sara smiled, gripping her batons a little tighter. “Thanks Gideon.” She looked over at Leonard. “Let’s go.” He followed her out, his cold gun up and his gaze flicking over his shoulder to watch their backs. They made it to the bridge without incident. The pirate crew was truly small, as they’d already learned, and they really weren’t enough to cover the entire ship. Particularly when most of them were in the engine room torturing Rip. They strode across the bridge to the main door, coming to a stop before they opened it.

“Gideon, are we clear?” Leonard asked.

“On my mark,” she replied, like she was starting a sack race at a picnic. “Three, two, one, door opening.” They stepped cautiously into the corridor, but it was clear. Hurrying, as much as they could without drawing attention to themselves, Leonard and Sara reached the holding cell in a few moments. They stopped in front of the forcefield. Sara was smiling and Leonard was smirking. This was his element.

Kendra and Stein looked up at them in obvious surprise, but Jax just grinned. “I knew you guys would come!”

“Never leave a teammate behind, kid,” Leonard said, trying to make it sound gruff. Jax didn’t comment, though. Sara opened the cell from the outside and Leonard handed them the medical supplies. “That should wake him up,” he said, pointing to the syringe.

“Then patch him up and get him in his suit. We’re going to get some weapons. And take these,” Sara said. They handed over comms for their teammates and she locked the cell again. “If they come for you Kendra, go with them and drag it out. We’ll be there to get you soon.” She nodded. They glanced around at their friends for just a moment, and then Sara and Leonard left.

“Remember where Short, Dark, and Bulky is,” Leonard said, gesturing at the corridor they shouldn’t take.

“We should really figure out his name at some point.”

Leonard shrugged and followed Sara’s stealthy lead. Gideon gave them location updates on the guard and suggested alternate routes without being asked, which was nice. Normally she was much snarkier with Leonard. She liked Sara, he supposed, but maybe it was because her Captain was being tortured and she wanted them to save him.

 

* * *

 

Back in the cell, Kendra had cleaned most of the blood from Ray’s face. Stein had been volunteered to set and bandage his nose because he was the closest to a doctor they were going to get. Kendra pressed the syringe to his arm and pulled the trigger. The light blue liquid shot into his vein and within a few seconds, he started to wake up.

“Hungh? Wass happ’ng?” His voice was thick and heavy with the swelling in his nose, but he was gaining alertness with each second. “Ow,” he whined after a moment.

“Pirates attacked the ship, Ray. We need to help Sara and Snart overpower them, so we need the Atom.”

Ray blinked slowly, then quickly to clear his vision. “Those were the guys who hit me then?”

Jax nodded. “Yeah, man, it’s not like they were selling Girl Scout cookies.”

Rubbing his neck for a second, Ray pushed himself fully upright. “Right.” He wobbled just slightly. “Jax, I might need your help with the exo-suit.”

 

* * *

 

Sara’s stealth and Gideon’s advice led them to the weapon’s closet without incident. Axl sat in front of it, elbows on his knees and Rip’s gun by his hip. He hadn’t been on the bridge when the loop began this time, so it seemed logical that he didn’t remember anything this time. They peaked around the corner and Leonard gestured at him with his chin. Sara’s lips curled up into a smirk. He’d be easy. She came out of their hiding place making less noise than a panther and was on him with her batons before he could remember that there was a gun six inches from him. She smacked him across the temple and he flopped over. He really wasn’t a very good pirate.

Leonard covered her with his cold gun while she opened the storage locker and chose a few weapons for their teammates. He knew Short, Dark, and Bulky was on rounds and would probably be coming this way pretty soon. Sure enough, as Sara was choosing from the blasters they’d confiscated from Mick’s – Chronos’s – ship, the guard rounded the corner, looked at them, then his fallen comrade, and started blasting. Leonard shot back with his cold gun, clipping the big man on the shoulder and forcing him back. He followed, getting closer and taking another shot when SD&B peeked around the corner again. This man had killed Sara, twice now, and he had it coming. Leonard came around the corner like a freight train, knocking the stockier man to the floor. He aimed for his head, priming his cold gun.

A small hand landed on his arm, pulling it firmly away. “Don’t kill him.”

“He killed you, Sara.” The guard on the floor looked up at them, completely bewildered.

“In a previous loop, in a timeline that doesn’t exist now.” He sighed, not shifting his aim an inch. “You’re better than this. There’s been enough death today, don’t you think?” And he did. He’d thought the same thing in almost the same words. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye. She looked so earnest – if you ignored the serious looking blasters slung over her shoulder.

He dropped his aim, shifting the gun and bashing Short, Dark, and Bulky in the head with the butt of it. At least it would hurt. “Happy?”

“Delighted. Let’s get back to the others.” He followed her lead back toward the bridge. “Gideon, any unfriendlies in our path?”

“There are no pirates ahead of you, Ms. Lance, but I detect two of their signals leaving the engine room.”

They picked up the pace and reached the cell only a few moments later. Leonard deactivated the forcefield with a wave of his hand and Sara tossed weapons to Jax, Stein, and Kendra. Ray stood to one side, firmly strapped into his Atom suit and looking much less wobbly than he had before. Sara and Leonard glanced at each other, he gestured into the cell, and she nodded. They stepped in beside their teammates, not bothering with the forcefield. Leonard primed his cold gun, and Sara twisted her batons together to form her staff.

“Two pirates coming this way. Get ready,” she said. They pulled the straps of their blasters over the shoulders, priming their weapons, and Ray brought up his arm, ready to blast anything that came into the cell.

Moments later, they were not disappointed. “What the –?” Tall Egghead began. Sara lashed out with her staff, knocking his hands off his blaster. It went skittering away down the corridor. His colleague lifted his blaster, aiming into the cell and was met with the muzzles of three blasters, a mechanical fist, and a cold gun. It was the cold gun that ultimately disarmed him, freezing his blaster solid. Sara used her staff to shove them both back into the corridor. The five guns pointing at them encouraged them to cooperate with the very forceful blonde at the front.

“Take us to your leader,” Ray said, grinning behind his visor. “I’ve always wanted to say that,” he said to Kendra, who tried not to sigh.

“Idiot,” Leonard muttered, not very quietly. Sara just smiled at the pirates, letting the fear settle in before making a ‘get on with it’ gesture with her hand. They both scrambled to lead the way after that. Len touched his comm. “Gideon, notify us of any approaching threats.”

“Of course, Mr. Snart,” she said, voice echoing in their comms. “Mr. Hansen and his remaining crewmember are in the engine room, in the aft section near the time drive. They are attempting to force Captain Hunter’s cooperation with their plan. The Captain has held his position that their request is impossible. He has sustained moderate injuries, but his pain level is near the top of his recorded threshold.” She sounded…worried? Was that the right way to describe it? Leonard glanced at Sara. Her brow was furrowed, and she looked at him out of the corner of her eye. She’d heard something in Gideon’s tone, too. Personal feelings about Rip aside, Leonard liked Gideon a little more for being worried about her captain. It made her more human, even though she wasn’t one. Trust Barry to program a personable AI.

The pirates led them toward the engine room, though they walked slowly. Leonard, happy to have an excuse to flex his ‘bad-guy’ muscles, prodded the one closest to him with the muzzle of his cold gun. They sped up. Slightly.

Gideon’s voice came through the comms. “The current route will bring you within 5 feet of one of the unconscious pirates in approximately 1.2 minutes.”

“Thank you Gideon,” Kendra said from the back of the group. The pirates made no comment, though they couldn’t hear whoever their former captives were occasionally talking to.

In Gideon’s estimated 1.2 minutes, they walked past the corridor where Short, Dark, and Bulky was passed out on the floor. The two pirates at the front stuttered to a stop when they saw their comrade. Sara jabbed Tall Egghead with her staff and Leonard shoved the unremarkable looking one with his gun. They were not particularly gentle.

“You killed them?” Tall Egghead asked, terrified and indignant. He looked at them like he couldn’t imagine what they might be capable of.

Leonard opened his mouth to say something undoubtedly snarky, but Sara cut in, “They’re just unconscious.”

He prodded the pirate in the back again. “Keep moving.” He could be good at the whole gruff thing when he wanted to be. Spurred on by the not so gentle pressure of Sara’s staff and Leonard’s gun, the pirates eventually started toward the engine room again.

It took several minutes to get there, but when they did, Leonard had devised a plan to sneak in and overtake them with minimal chance of anyone dying. Not even Rip or Hansen. Provided things actually went according to plan. But he knew the reset code should something go horribly wrong, even if it meant they’d all have to start from scratch. He stopped them all just before the door to the engine room, making the pirates turn to face him.

“You were sent to bring Kendra here, right?” He didn’t wait for their response, though they both nodded shakily. “You’re going to walk her in and get her near your captain.” They both started shaking their heads, Tall Egghead even opening his mouth to say no.

“You’ll do it or she will shoot you in the back with her blaster. If the cold gun doesn’t get you first,” Sara added.

“Exactly. Raymond is going to shrink down and ride in Kendra’s pocket. The rest of us will keep low and spread out while Hansen is occupied.”

“Long as we stay behind the machinery, we’ll be fine,” Sara finished, catching onto his plan quickly. He nodded once and watched as Ray shrank and flew into Kendra’s t-shirt pocket, and Sara broke apart her staff and drew one of her handguns. He instructed Gideon to open the door, and Kendra nudged the pirates into the engine room with the muzzle of her blaster. They walked in, trying to seem nonchalant. Sara, Leonard, Jax, and Martin crept in behind them, staying low and taking shelter behind the turbines for a moment. They split up, Sara and Leonard on one side, and Jax and Stein on the other.

Hansen noticed his crewmen after a moment. “Oh good, our incentive has arrived. Now, Captain Hunter, do you want to take us back or do I have to start in on your lovely friend here?”

Sara and Leonard reached a strategic position. They could see Rip, bruised and a bit bloodied, but alive, sitting against one of the larger engine components. And they could see the pirate on the opposite side of Hansen. Jax and Stein had a very clear line to him.

“Now,” Sara whispered into the comms. The four of them near the back stood, pointing their various guns at Hansen and the final pirate, and Ray flew out of Kendra’s pocket and grew to normal size, offering extra blasters for the two pirates escorting her.

“Time to surrender, Hansen,” Leonard said, priming his cold gun with a low whine.

Hansen looked around, noticed the two crewmembers he hadn’t seen on the bridge, and set his mouth in a grim slash. “No. I _have_ to go back. And you can’t stop me.” He sounded desperate.

“You can’t do it,” Rip said from the floor, his voice thin with pain.

“All of time will collapse in on itself. Is your crew worth the entire universe?” Ray asked.

“I can’t – It wasn’t their fault!”

“No, it wasn’t,” Jax said, even though none of them knew what had happened to kill his entire crew. “But the end of time will be if you try to go back.”

“You don’t understand,” Hansen said. “We were attacked, by pirates, and they killed most of my crew. But the few of us who got away escaped on the pirates’ ship. And we’ve been trying to find a time ship to take us back so we could save them.”

“Trust me, we understand,” Leonard said.

Rip shifted, pressing a hand to his side. “There are very specific conditions that must be met for a time loop to be initiated, and you’ve already broken the three most important ones. It’s been more than two days, you’ve flown a significant distance from the ship, and you are attempting to bring individuals who are not native to those events into them. And because you have participated in the events, we cannot visit that moment, even just as time travellers, without tearing the fabric of space-time. I’m sorry, but it is impossible to take you back to save your crew _and_ have a stable universe to live in once you have.”

And he did look sorry. But it didn’t change that they were too entwined with the timeline of the attack now for any of them to go back. They were finding, as they travelled, that it was often the big things of the timeline – Vandal Savage, the outcome of the Cold War – that could be changed, but the small things – Aldus’s death, a single ship being attacked – often could not. Time wanted to happen, in all the most personal and visible ways. It reasserted itself in all the little ways, especially when it couldn’t do so in the larger ways.

After a tense moment in which Hansen did not drop his weapon, despite at least three different weapons pointed at him, the would-be pirate sagged in place. His blaster dropped to the floor and he sank slowly to his knees. The man beside him reached out an arm to catch him. The desperation that had kept him going drained from his posture, and he looked less like a pirate and more like a simple trader.

“What’s happened to the rest of my crew?” he asked, voice reedy and thin, as he gestured at the two guards they’d brought into the engine room.

“They’re unconscious near the weapons store,” Sara said.

“They’ll be fine,” Kendra added, trying to be reassuring. Hansen nodded slowly. Another long moment passed and he let himself be led to the medbay, where Gideon kindly administered a mild sedative.

 

* * *

 

The team met on the bridge, Ray feeling better after Gideon set and accelerated the healing of his nose. Rip had also spent about an hour in medbay, letting Gideon tend to his multiple flesh wounds. When they returned to the bridge, the rest of the team sat in the jump seats or in Rip’s study. Their captain looked around at them, not injured, but clearly frayed from their ordeal.

“Thank you, all of you,” Rip said. He looked at Sara and Leonard, who stood close together at the edge of the group. “And thank you to both of you especially. Dr. Palmer relayed some of your actions while Gideon treated us.”

Leonard shrugged. “We had some help,” Sara said. “We couldn’t have done it without Gideon.” The AI chimed a quiet, happy noise. “And we couldn’t have done it if you hadn’t looped time over and over.”

“How many loops did you experience?” Stein asked, sitting contentedly in one of the seats.

“This is the sixth one I remember,” Leonard said. He was tired and emotionally drained, and he didn’t feel like being particularly gruff with the Professor after he’d worked to save the team six times. And failed five.

“Remarkable,” Stein said, and not in the tone he usually reserved for exclamations about time travel, space, and the future. He said it like he thought Sara and Leonard had done something remarkable. And maybe he did. Neither of them felt up to picking it apart tonight.

Rip nodded. “Well, I’m sure we will be curious about the events of these loops, but for now I suggest that we all get some rest. We will drop off our – uh – guests at the port of their choosing in the morning. Good night all.” He looked at Sara and Leonard again. “And well done.” Then he left the bridge. The others filtered out soon after.

Sara and Leonard were the last to leave, wandering out the main bridge door together. They followed their paths from earlier without intending to, eventually turning off toward the crew quarters. They stopped in front of her door and he looked down at her. She smiled up at him, something soft around the edges in a way that she wasn’t really known for.

“We gonna talk about it?”

She didn’t need to say what. He knew. Their kiss, his overprotectiveness, the way he couldn’t stand to see her die.

“How I keep losing status as a crook by saving the team?” He quirked an odd smile, trying to be sardonic, and not quite succeeding.

She smiled sadly at him. And he thought she almost sighed. “Good night, Leonard,” she said. For a second, she shifted her weight onto her toes, but thought better of whatever she was going to do and stepped into her room instead. The door closed behind her and he swore under his breath.

He stepped back from the door. “Gideon?”

“Yes, Mr. Snart?”

“Ruins of Arcadia.”

She made a tinny chime, like a sigh, and replied, “Captain Hunter has instructed me that the time loop initiator only be used in cases of emergency, even if directed by a crewmember.” She paused so her point would sink in. “Looping one minute to change the outcome of your conversation with Ms. Lance is not an emergency.” The _stop being an idiot and fix it yourself_ was unspoken, but he heard it all the same.

“Fine, you’re not very helpful for an AI, Gideon.”

“That is not what Ms. Lance says.” Rolling his eyes at the uppity computer, he stalked off down the corridor to his own room.

Leonard went about his usual routine, placing his gun on the desk, toeing off his boots and kicking them into the corner, changing into sleep pants and a long sleeved shirt. He sat down on his bed, ready to climb in and get some sleep. His mind was screaming at him to sleep because it felt like it had been up for several extra hours. He knew he wouldn’t get much sleep tonight though. He’d see Sara in his dreams, dying at the hands of Short, Dark, and Bulky, or Hansen, over and over again. He sighed deeply.

“Gideon, is Sara still awake?”

“Yes, Mr. Snart. My sensors indicate Ms. Lance is attempting meditation in her quarters.”

He got up in one movement, slipped his boots back on, and left his room. Once he reached Sara’s door, the flurry of purpose that had propelled him from his bed dissipated. Shaking his head to clear the thoughts, he knocked firmly on Sara’s door. It opened after only a moment. She stood in the doorway, wearing shorts and an ancient t-shirt, hair laying messily around her shoulders. His breath stuttered for a moment.

“Hi Len,” she said, voice breathy and soft and tired.

“Can I come in?” She stepped back and he slid past her. He checked his hip against her desk, not sitting on it as it was covered in knives halfway through sharpening, and it felt a little presumptuous to sit on her bed. She climbed onto the bed, sitting cross-legged and watching him intently. “You were right. We do have things to talk about.” His gaze flicked over to her and got stuck there. “I wanted to save the team, because I…care.” The last word fell from his lips like something sour. “But I can’t watch you die, Sara.” Her whole body tensed, leaning toward him. “It’s different with you.”

Suddenly there were fingers gripping his. He looked down and her small, calloused hand was tugging at his, slipping her fingers in between his and pulling him toward her. He looked back at her face. A tiny smile pulled at her lips, and her gaze was open and accepting.

“I’m not good at…this,” he said.

“Me neither,” she replied. She tugged on his hand again, pulling him away from the desk. “Stay here tonight. Just sleep and we’ll figure the rest out in the morning.” He nodded once, letting her pull him up the bed. He kicked off his shoes and let her arrange him as she liked. She laid her head on his chest, and he curled his arm around her waist to hold her against him. She pulled the blankets over them and laid her hand over his heart. “Gideon, sleep mode, please.” The lights dimmed very low and the panel behind her bed shifted to a view of the galaxy. “G’night Len.” She dropped the tiniest of kisses on his chest.

He let out a deep breath, almost a sigh. “Good night Sara.” He pressed a kiss to the top of her head and held it there for a long moment, until he felt her relax fully against him. Then he settled back to sleep, listening to the sound of her breath. They could talk about feelings tomorrow. Tonight, they’d saved the team and they deserved a night of undisturbed sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just in case you were curious, the 'going back in time one minute to change what you said' was inspired by an interview at comic-con with Wentworth Miller. He said he'd like to have that as his superpower. =]
> 
> I was originally going to end the story here, with Sara and Len finally getting some much needed rest, but they deserve their conversation and some shore leave. So that's what's up next.


	7. It's Finally Wednesday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sara and Len have a chat, Hansen and his crew get dropped off at the space station, and the Legends start their shore leave

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally have a new chapter! The beginning of this chapter has been written since before the last chapter was posted, but I couldn't get the end to cooperate. I think there will be maybe two more chapters, which I've already started.
> 
> Note: the beginning of this chapter gets a little PG-13
> 
> Also, it's really hard to keep them in character when they're talking about their feelings, since they're both act like they're allergic to emotion. But I think I managed it alright.
> 
> Anyway, hope you all enjoy! Thanks for sticking with me so far!

Sara woke up, blinking blearily, her face pressed against something firm and warm and covered in grey cotton. She closed her eyes again, pressing her face deeper into her comfortable pillow. It smelled nice, like Leonard actually. Blinking again, a bit more purposefully this time, she looked up and found his chin just above her head. He was still asleep, which made her smile. He’d remembered more loops than she had, so his mind was probably more exhausted. She spent a few moments watching him, then carefully extracted herself from his grasp.

 

* * *

 

Leonard opened his eyes slowly. Something was different from when he’d gone to sleep. There was no warm weight on his chest for one. His eyes sprang open. Sara stood over him, smiling down at him, blonde hair like a curtain around her face. One hand rested on his shoulder and the other on the edge of the bed. He curled an arm around her waist and rolled over, effectively pinning her beneath him. She let him, giggling and letting one arm come to rest at the nape of his neck.

“You should know better than to sneak up on someone when they’re sleeping.” His gravelly morning voice sent a shiver up her spine.

“I was trying to wake you up. I brought coffee.” She gestured at the mugs on the nightstand.

He hummed in affirmation. “I think I’m awake now.” He bent his head closer to hers, close enough that she almost imagined she could feel his morning stubble, and then he rolled off of her into a sitting position. She groaned as she sat up and scooted over beside him. She passed one mug to him and took the other, sitting cross-legged again and facing him. He turned to face her, as well, sipping carefully from his hot coffee.

“I thought we could talk before we have to go be part of the team,” she said, shrugging.

“The others aren’t up yet?” That would surprise him; he knew Sara was not a morning person by any stretch of the imagination.

“They’re up, but not really around. Rip’s in his study, Ray and Kendra are having breakfast in their room, and Jax is doing a systems check. Apparently the ship needs some repairs.” Leonard gave a sideways nod. It made sense. “Dunno where Stein is. Savoring the quiet probably.” He smirked. “So, you care…”

He tried to shrug, but his shoulders were too tense to pull it off. Sara scooted forward until their knees touched. “Yeah,” he said, tension starting to bleed out of him. “Look, I know you can take care of yourself, and the rest of us, probably, but that doesn’t mean I’m okay with you getting hurt.” He paused, fidgeting a bit. “Because I care. About you.”

Her smile grew as she tried not to giggle. “You really are terrible at this.” He rolled his eyes. She took his free hand and pulled his attention back to her. “Len, I care about you, too. And I haven’t had to watch you die, I hope I never will. But when we were stuck in the 50s, I was so sure you were dead, you all were. I had to watch Ray and Kendra be sickeningly sweet every single fucking day. And all I could think was that I was alone, and I could never find someone like that, because I’m just too fucked up.” He squeezed her hand reflexively. He’d always hated when she talked about herself like this. “I mean, there was Lindsey in Harmony Falls, sort of, but there hasn’t been anyone I could see myself being with for any amount of time. But you – you get it.” He cocked his head to the side. “This darkness in me. You don’t pretend it’s not there, but you think I’m more than that.”

“You are.”

She huffed out a laugh. “See?” She took a long sip of her coffee. “That’s why I went back to the League. You were really the only person here I felt normal with, and you were just gone. So I went back to the one place I knew I would be accepted.”

“You don’t need the League and you certainly don’t need me to be a hero, Sara.”

“Being a hero is hollow if you have nothing and no one.” She looked down into her mug. “I’ve watched Ollie tear himself apart and he still hasn’t figured out how to have both.”

“Maybe we don’t need vigilantes with martyr complexes. Maybe we just need someone to stumble through the dark with.”

“You offering, crook?”

“If that’s what you want, assassin.”

Sara took his mug and set them both on the bedside table. Then she leaned forward to kiss him. His arm circled her waist, pulling her neatly onto his lap. She pushed him over, straddling his waist once he was lying flat on her bed. She grinned down at him, pinning his arms above his head.

Leonard raised an eyebrow. “You gonna do anything or are you just gonna sit there and smirk all day?” Sara swooped down and captured his lips again. He pulled one hand free, tangling it in her hair. “You wanna dance, Leonard?” she asked, pulling back for a breath and nibbling a spot on his jaw. His stubble scratched against her lips.

He groaned. “You’re gonna be the death of me.”

“It’ll be a nice death,” she said into his skin. “And only a little death.” He huffed a laugh.

“Sara,” he said, trying to get her attention. This was important. He tugged on her hair, just enough to look her in the eye. “No more nurses from 1958.”

She smirked. “Don’t need ‘em.” She kissed him again. “I can just have Gideon dress you up like a nurse.” He let out a put upon groan and she laughed, tucking herself into his chest. “Let’s go back to sleep, Len.”

His hand loosened in her hair, massaging her scalp slightly. “A minute ago you were full steam ahead.”

She shrugged, not moving from her comfortable perch on top of him. “Just a little…” Her voice trailed off, unsure how to phrase it.

“Overwhelmed?”

He felt more than saw her nod. “I haven’t really – since I came back. Even when I was back with the League.”

It almost bothered him to not be able to see her face, but he could feel her fiddling with the seam of his shirt as she stretched out on top of him. “S’okay. I’ve always had a hard time with people touching me, or seeing my scars, or making me lose control.” He stopped talking. Sara exhaled, settling more comfortably in his arms, as if he hadn’t just revealed more than he’d intended.

“Father like yours, I’m not surprised.” She turned her head to look at him, propping her chin up on his chest. “We’ll figure it out.” She laid her head back down on his chest, gripping his shirt in one fist. “No more worrying, go back to sleep.” He chuckled and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

They were quiet for a while, lying the wrong way on her bed. “Can I have a pillow?” Leonard asked.

“So needy,” Sara answered, chuckling as she pulled one up with her foot, tucking it under his head with her free hand.

“Thank you.”

 

* * *

 

Quite some time later, Kendra knocked on Sara’s door. No one had seen her all day, though Gideon had assured her that Sara was simply in her room. Kendra knocked again when her friend didn’t answer. Sara wasn’t a morning person, but it wasn’t like her to stay in bed quite this late.

Leonard growled a command at the door and it slid open.

“Sara, are you still asleep? We’ve been worried about you. And no one’s seen Snart either.”

“Here,” he mumbled groggily. They’d slept too long, but they didn’t really care.

“Lights, Gideon,” Sara said, the ambient lights coming up and illuminating her friend’s face. She didn’t look terribly surprised. “We’re fine. Are we taking Hansen and his men somewhere?” Sara had yet to sit up, far too comfortable. Leonard hadn’t even opened his eyes.

Kendra glanced around, then pulled out the desk chair and sat. “Yeah, Rip is going to fly them to the nearest space station, apparently. He says we can stay and have shore leave there while we get repairs done if we want, but we have to be careful –”

“Not to damage the timeline,” Sara and Leonard chimed in. Kendra giggled.

“Did you guys want to explore the space station?”

“Is anyone else going?” Sara asked. Leonard’s hand splayed on her back, trailing up and down very slowly.

“Uh, yeah.” Her gaze flicked back to Sara’s face. “Martin and Ray can’t wait. And Jax thinks it will be cool.”

Sara looked down at her human pillow. “Wanna go, Len?”

“Sure,” he said, voice low and rumbling.

“Count us in,” Sara said.

“Ok, um, Rip wants us on the bridge in 20 minutes.” She nodded once and left.

Once the door was closed, Sara sat up, straddling Leonard’s lap. “You should go get dressed.” He sat up too, shifting her weight into a more comfortable position.

“I’ll meet you on the bridge. Wouldn’t want to scandalize the rest of the team,” he said with a smirk and extracted himself from the bed.

She smiled, something unguarded that looked exceedingly pretty on her. “See you in twenty.”

 

* * *

 

Twenty minutes and a handful of seconds later, Sara wandered onto the bridge, freshly showered and dressed in something Gideon deemed ‘time period appropriate,’ which was a gauzy, asymmetrical blouse, a pair of skinny, black biker jeans, and a white, canvas biker jacket. According to Gideon, this space station in particular was frequented by traders, mercenaries, and pirates, more than official ships. So she would blend in.

Three minutes later, Leonard stepped onto the bridge, looking quite similar to his usual. Although his clothes weren’t native to the time zone, they fit the aesthetic of the station rather well, at least for a scavenging trader.

“You’re late,” Rip said. Leonard shrugged.

Their captain had done away with his usual brown coat to avoid being recognized, instead wearing a long grey coat, black trousers, and a blue long sleeved shirt. Ray and Stein were dressed similarly, and Jax wore more casual dark jeans, and a cargo jacket. Kendra looked stunning in an asymmetrical tunic and leggings, with a black trench. They all wore flat, rubber soled boots, perfect for running across metal decks, and as Gideon had put it, keeping their balance when boarding other ships. The irony of it was not lost on them, least of all Leonard and Sara.

“Take a seat. We’ll be docking soon,” Rip said, not as annoyed as he would have liked to be. “The docking crews at this station are notoriously suspicious, but we should be fine.” Sara and Leonard glanced at each other and immediately took a pair of seats together. Rip’s definition of ‘fine’ needed a little work. The captain strapped into his seat and pressed a button on the arm. “Dutchman Station, Waverider on approach. Requesting permission to dock.”

“Dutchman Station receiving you Waverider.” There was a long pause. “Burn the land and boil the sea.” Then nothing.

Sara spoke first. “It’s a challenge code. You said they were suspicious.” She shrugged.

Rip cleared his throat. “Say again, Dutchman.”

“Burn the land and boil the sea.”

“It’s from Firefly,” Leonard said. Everyone turned to look at him. He shrugged. “What? I do watch television.”

“Gideon, search for text match. Firefly.”

“Text match found, Captain. ‘Burn the land and boil the sea / You can’t take the sky from me.’”

Rip pressed the button. “You can’t take the sky from me,” he repeated.

A long, anxious silence settled on the bridge. “Permission to dock granted. Proceed to bay seven. Welcome to the Flying Dutchman, Waverider.”

 

* * *

 

The team stepped off the Waverider with their six would-be pirates in tow – Mick had elected to stay behind – into a large open bay filled with ships of all sizes and kinds. A few dozen traders were gathered on the open deck near the docking agents’ station, various wares spread out and deals being made. Ray looked around with wide eyes as he tried to take in everything. This was the kind of future he wanted to visit.

Hansen faced Rip, bringing everyone to a stop. “Thank you, Captain Hunter,” he said.

“Whatever for?”

“If you were a different captain, if your team was not who they are, my crew and I would not be alive to comfort the families of our fallen crewmen. We owe you a debt of gratitude,” Hansen said. His men nodded emphatically behind him.

“You don’t owe us anything,” Sara cut in, not unkindly.

“We hope you find safe passage home,” Rip said, reaching out to shake Hansen’s hand. The other captain nodded his thanks once again and left with his crew. He gestured vaguely to the space station in front of them. “Alright, look around if you must. But please be mindful of –”

“The timeline,” Sara and Jax finished. Rip was like a broken record sometimes.

He looked at Sara. “No bar fights.” She mocked offense. He turned to Leonard. “No thefts.” Snart graced him with a look that could only be described as ‘no promises.’ Sighing, he turned to Stein and Ray in turn. “No getting involved in problems that have nothing to do with you.” Stein looked genuinely offended, but the accusation didn’t lessen Ray’s enthusiasm at all.

“Is there some sort of space cantina or something on this thing? Like in Star Wars?” Jax asked.

“Jefferson, may I remind you that you are not yet 21?” Stein interrupted.

“The drinking age in this quadrant of the galaxy is seventeen, in fact. Though at this particular station, it’s more like a meter,” Rip said.

“A meter?” Leonard asked raising an eyebrow.

“If you can see over the bar, they’ll serve you, more or less,” Rip said with a shrug. “And there is a bar, a few decks up I believe. If you decide to go, please do not start a fight with the locals. They’re volatile enough without all of you. I will remain with the Waverider and put in for parts and repairs.”

Sara smirked. “You wanna get a drink, Leonard?”

“Lead the way.”

They left for the bar together, though the rest of the team followed not far behind. “A real life space cantina. This is so cool!” Ray was saying. He was never going to get over his excitement about space and time travel, clearly. Kendra and Jax seemed to tolerate it rather well, though. Jax because he was pretty excited too, and Kendra because she still thought Ray was cute.

The space cantina, rather unimaginatively named La Cantina Espacial, was pretty much exactly what Ray had pictured. Dimly lit and a bit dusty, with people of varying degrees of shady lounging at the bar or around tables. Somewhere in the back, a game of cards was getting very heated, and the bartender looked like he knew where quite a few bodies were buried. Leonard gave Ray’s idiotically grinning face the side-eye and pushed into the bar with Sara. They didn’t attract much attention, aside from the appreciative looks Sara and Kendra tended to get at places like this.

Jax followed them in, taking a seat down the bar and ordered something that he thought seemed fairly close to a rum and coke. Sara and Leonard took two stools together, his glare clearing the way and preventing an overcurious trader from offering to buy Sara a drink, and did their best to order from the unfamiliar selection.

“Drendar whiskey,” the slightly blue bartender said, setting a glass full of a thick amber liquor in front of Leonard. “And a hyper-vodka for the lady.” Leonard scowled at the man’s flirtatious smile. Sara downed her drink in one swallow, Leonard watching as she caught a stray drop of liquor with her tongue. He shifted slightly in his seat, sipping his whiskey. It was good. Very good, in fact. Sara thunked the glass back onto the bar and signaled for a refill immediately. The bartender filled the glass from a sleek, clear bottle. His leer was gone, replaced by something much more cautious. He’d never seen a girl – a human girl, no less – that small and that pretty down a double shot of hyper-vodka and not so much as flinch. Leonard smirked.

Sara sipped her drink this time. It was smooth and cold. She looked at Leonard. “How much should we tell them?” She jerked her chin toward their teammates at the other end of the bar.

“Let’s deal with that tomorrow.” She raised an eyebrow. “According to Gideon, the aft bay needs extensive repairs. We’ll be here at least another day.”

“So you wanna have shore leave?” She braced her foot on his stool, knee settling between his.

“Might be nice.” He took a sip of his whiskey, leaning slightly toward her. “We could see what’s worth stealing on this tin can. Could get a room with no overbearing crew or nosy computer.”

She grinned at him and downed her vodka. “Shore leave it is.” Leonard finished his drink in one swallow and let her lead him from the bar by his hand.

As they passed the others, Jax smirked at Ray. “Ha! I told you!” His pout was visible beneath his still swollen nose as he pressed a ten dollar bill into Jax’s hand.

Much as he wanted to be annoyed, a crooked smile tugged at Leonard’s lips. Sara smiled at him over her shoulder and he gave a last glance at their team. Kendra shook her head in fond exasperation while Jax and Ray bickered about how broadly they were defining ‘proof.’ Yeah, they were going to be fine. He looked back at Sara, a rare expression of real delight on her face. He, for one, planned to be more than fine. Gripping her hand tighter, he followed her out of the La Cantina Espacial.


	8. Wednesday Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sara and Leonard finally get a room

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual, the beginning of this chapter has been written for a while and the ending didn't necessarily want to cooperate. And to be honest, neither did Ray. But I'm okay with it.
> 
> I think there will be one more chapter, but I haven't started it yet. Mostly because I might have (read: definitely) started writing a Destiny fix-it that is already basically as long as this fic is. I'll start posting that when it's done, which should hopefully be within a week or so.
> 
> And the beginning of this gets a big PG-13 again. Apparently I like to start chapters that way.
> 
> Enjoy!

After a few wrong turns, Sara and Leonard found the lodging agent one deck above the bar. They settled on the best room below a suite, one king bed and a full en-suite bathroom, and paid for it using the credit chips Gideon had fabricated. Leonard was tempted to just palm a master key, but he knew the clerk was likely well trained – dealing with pirates as he did. It wasn’t his money, though, and he wasn’t sure that it wasn’t just fabricated money anyway.

Sara took the keys, slipping one into his back pocket. She listened to the clerk’s directions carefully, even as Leonard’s hand slid up the back of her loose blouse, rubbing featherlight patterns with his fingertips. A hum of energy sizzled beneath her skin and she leaned over the tiniest amount, just until her shoulder rested against his chest.

They got lost once trying to find their room, partly due to Leonard’s wandering hands, and partly due to the fact that Sara’s inner sense of direction didn’t seem to work well on a space station. But they found their way again after a moment or two. The lodging complex was huge, and by the time they reached their room, Leonard was impatient. Sara scanned her key and the door slid open. He hurried her inside, pressing his hand to the lock panel as soon as the door shut.

His free hand joined the one already on her back, and he pulled her flush against him. She met him halfway in a kiss. At this angle, their height difference was significant and Leonard had to crane his neck uncomfortably. He slid his hands down to grip her hips and lifted her onto the dresser in the corner beside the door. Sara hitched her legs up, digging her heels into the backs of his thighs. Leonard managed to get both of their jackets off without breaking their kiss. His lips trailed down her neck and nibbled on her collar bone. She raked her fingers across his shorn hair.

“Len,” she gasped. He smirked into her neck. “Len, do you have – ?”

“Yeah,” he cut her off. “In my jacket pocket.” He kicked it closer to the bed. “Gideon and I had a little chat. She agreed to fabricate a box of condoms and not advertise it to Rip. And I agreed not to make Barry program a cheat code for me when we get back to 2016.” She laughed and he hid his growing smile in her shoulder. He liked hearing her laugh; she didn’t laugh nearly often enough.

She kissed his neck, just below his ear. “Bed.” Her voice was a husky whisper. Leonard picked her up again, helped this time by her legs around his waist, and walked the three steps to the bed. He let them fall onto it. She laughed again when he landed on top of her. Though she was so much smaller than him, he knew she was stronger, that he didn’t have to be too careful not to squish her or hurt her.

He knew that she could flip them over anytime she wanted. He knew she could get the upper hand even if he was on top. It was attractive, actually. And a quality he’d only ever experienced with a few men, and not any of the women he’d been with. It was better with Sara. He knew she could take complete control of the situation. But he also knew she wouldn’t, because she understood his issues with control.

Things were just different with Sara.

He must have had an odd look on his face, because she touched his cheek with just her fingertips, like she thought he might break. His gaze focused on her and he smiled and kissed her nose.

“Can I?” she asked, voice still husky and soft. Her fingers were playing with the hem of his sweater, dipping under to run across his skin. He nodded once.

She pulled his sweater and undershirt over his head in one movement, tossing them off the bed. Then she crossed her arms in front of her and pulled her blouse off as well. It landed on top of his sweater on the floor. Now they were on relatively even footing, with their scars out in the open. Her fingers danced over a dark pucker of scar tissue on his ribs. Leonard’s gaze had fallen to her chest. Three arrows to the chest, a tight cluster. He bent his head and pressed his mouth to each one. Sara shuddered beneath him, fingers digging into his side. No one had touched those scars, much less kissed them so tenderly.

“You’re beautiful,” he said, soulful eyes never leaving hers. “Scars and past and all.” There was something so broken and so loving in his whispered affirmation. Her strong hands pulled him up and she kissed him hard.

Pulling back, she looked him in the eye. “One day you’ll know that you are, too.”

The sentiment touched him, but it was the way she said it that caught him, like she would be around for that one day, like she would be partly responsible for it. He smiled down at her. But there would be time later to learn the story behind every scar, to map every mark on their skin. Shore leave was limited. His smile turned into a smirk as he leant down to put his own mark on her skin.

 

* * *

 

Later in the afternoon, Sara and Len discovered that the team had somehow managed to ping their room and send them a message through the station’s messaging service. Leonard looked up at the screen with a furrowed brow. So much for no overbearing crew.

“Computer, read message,” Sara said, still lying in bed with the sheet tangled around her feet and Leonard’s arm around her waist. He pressed his face into her shoulder, hoping to ignore their teammates.

“Guys,” the computer began in a robotic monotone, “We’re meeting for dinner in the main mess hall at 18:30 station time, if you want to join us. And we’re probably going back to the space cantina later, too. You should come. Signed, Ray, Kendra, and Jax.”

Leonard grunted. “Don’t want to get dinner with the others?” Sara asked with mock innocence. He shook his head, lips dragging across her shoulder.

“Is there room service on this tin can?”

He’d asked Sara, but the computer replied, “I have an extensive room service menu available for your perusal. Prices for room service are equal to those in the communal mess hall.”

“Shower first, then room service?” Sara asked. Leonard nodded. “Should we conserve water? We _are_ in deep space.”

He groaned into her shoulder, but he was laughing too. “You’re really going to be the death of me.”

“You love it,” she laughed.

The room service delivery robot arrived an hour later with their food. Sara answered the door in Leonard’s undershirt, taking their meals from the robot and placing the credit chip in its slot. The robot gave a soft beep and rolled away down the corridor. She turned around, pressing the lock panel with her elbow. She smiled at Leonard sitting on the rumpled bed in his boxers and watching her with a wry little smile, but his eyes gave him away. He watched her like he couldn’t believe she was really standing there in his shirt, smiling at him like she wanted to be nowhere else.

Sara handed Leonard his plate and sat cross-legged on the bed across from him. He mirrored her position and they tucked in.

“This is surprisingly good for coming out of a machine,” she said. He hummed in agreement. They were both quiet for a while. It was a comfortable silence, punctuated by little smiles and glances. It was the silence of two people who felt no need to fill it, who were comfortable just existing side by side for a while. “Did you want to get a drink and meet up with the team later?”

He shrugged. “Maybe. Thought we could go see what’s…available on this station. I’m sure these pirates have plenty of contraband we could liberate.”

Sara rolled her eyes, but she was smiling around her fork. “Wouldn’t mind having some of that hyper-vodka on the ship,” she said with a little shrug.

Now there was a thought. “We could intercept a case for you.” She smirked at him. Who did Rip think he was kidding, telling them not to steal anything? “And a case of that Drendar whiskey for me.” She nodded, smirking.

 

* * *

 

Leonard dropped into the chair across from Kendra, sprawling with an artless grace. Sara perched herself like a very deadly cat on the arm of his chair, sipping from her hyper-vodka. Ray’s eyes widened.

“We didn’t expect you would actually meet us for a drink,” he said, setting his glass heavily on the table between them.

Smirking, Leonard said, “Well, we had dinner and picked up a few things.” He glanced at Sara out of the corner of his eye. “And figured what the hell.”

Sara almost rolled her eyes. He was the master of snarky nonchalance. “So, how's your shore leave been?”

“Not as good as yours,” Kendra teased. Sara gave a throaty laugh and Leonard smirked. Ray pouted, but somehow still managed to look vaguely uncomfortable. “We just went shopping.”

“We did some shopping too,” Leonard said with a smirk.

“Rip said not to steal anything,” Ray protested.

“Do either of us actually listen to Rip?” Sara asked, gesturing between Leonard and herself. “No.”

Leonard added, “He's a stick in the mud and we have much better plans. We saved all of you, didn't we?”

“So you celebrate by stealing things?” Ray asked incredulously.

“Sure,” Sara said, smiling. Ray looked at them agog.

With barely a glance between them, Leonard swapped his and Sara’s glasses, taking a sip of her hyper-vodka. She tasted his Drendar whiskey, humming quietly in delight.

“Better than Rip’s stash?” Leonard asked, dropping his arm onto the arm of the chair so it rested almost around her waist. Sara nodded, smile turning mischievous.

“You steal Rip’s liquor too?” Ray asked.

Leonard rolled his eyes.

“So, how are repairs coming, Jax?” Sara asked.

He shrugged. “Slow. Rip hired someone to help. The aft bay is pretty torn up. We'll be here until tomorrow, at least.”

“Are you sleeping on the ship or in your hotel room?” Kendra asked, a teasing smirk playing at her lips. She was enjoying this, and Sara was never going to hear the end of it.

“Our room. If Rip wants to summon us, he's gonna have to work for it,” Sara said. Kendra giggled.

Ray shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “Seriously, though? I almost thought you guys were putting on a show earlier just to screw with us.”

“We were,” Leonard said.

“But we're serious, too,” Sara added.

Jax cut in, “Dude, you didn't see this coming? I think you're you're the only one. Pretty sure Mick saw it coming way back, too.” Leonard’s lips pulled into a tiny frown and his arm tightened almost imperceptibly around Sara. They hadn't made up yet.

“Sara, you could do so much better,” Ray said.

“Sitting right here,” Leonard said, though everyone ignored him. And he was happy to let Sara fight this battle.

“You're not my dad, Ray. And you're not Oliver, either. Your opinion means jack shit on this.”

“He's a criminal, Sara!”

“And I'm not?”

Silence. What was there to say to that, really? The moment stretched between them. Ray glanced away.

Jax eventually broke it. “You're just annoyed ‘cause you lost the bet.” Sara laughed and Leonard smirked.

“Speaking of the Green Arrow,” Leonard said. Ray spluttered a little indignantly on behalf of Oliver’s ‘secret’ identity, but Len was looking at Sara. “Is he gonna kill me?”

She chuckled. “Nah, you’ll be fine.” She leaned into him, smirking. “I’m tougher than he is.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


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